True religion delineated, or, Experimental religion, as distinguished from formality on the one hand, and enthusiasm on the other, set in a scriptural and rational light ..

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TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED;

OR,

Experimental Religion,

AS DISTINGUISHED FROM FORMALITY ON THE ONE HAND, ANO
ENTHUSIASM ON THE OTHER,

SET IN A SCRIPTURAL AND RATIONAL LIGHT,

3n Una Dtscaurscs ;

IN WHICH

SOME or TTiE rRiycirAi. errors both of the armixiaxs and an-

TINOMIANS ARE CONFUTED.. ..THE FOUNDATION AND SUPER-
STRUCTURE OF THEIR DIFFERENT SCHEMES DE-
MOLISH ED.... AND THE YrUTH, AS IT
IS IN JESUS, EXPLAINED
AND PROVED.

The whole adapted to tlic weakest capacities, and designed for

the estabhshmcnt, comfort, and quickening

of the people of God.

BY JOSEPH BELLAMY, D. D.

LATE OF BETHI.EM, CONNECTICUT.

VITH A PREFACE BY THE REV. MR. EDWARDS.

IsATAH XXX. 21... .And tbine ears shall hear a -word behind thee, taying, thU
is the way, wali ye in it, ivhen ye turn to the right hand, and 'iuben ye turn
to the left.

Matthew vii. 13, 14-. ...Enter ye in at the strait gate ; for ijiJe is the
gate, and broad is the way that leadetb to destiuctiun, and many there be
vihich go ii^tbcreat : Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the luay vihici
leadetb unto life, andfeiu there be that find it.

BOSTON, PRINTED.. .irSO.

MORRIS-roWN,

RE-PRINTED BY HENRY P.RUSSELX,,

1804.

PREFACE.

X HE being of GOD 13 reckoned the first, greatest,
and most fundamental of all things that are the objects of
knowledge or belief ; and, next to that, must be reckoned the
nature of that religion which God requires of us, and must be
found in us, in order to our enjoying the benefits of his fa-
vor: Or rather this may be esteemed of like imiiortance with
the other ; for it in. like manner concerns us to know how we
may honor and please God, and be accepted of him, as it con-
cerns us to know that he has a being. This is a point of infi-
nite consequence to every single person ; each one having to
do with God as his supreme judge, who will fix his eternal
state, according as he finds him to be with or ■without true reli-
gion. And this is also a point that vastly concerns the public
interests of the Church of God.

It is very apparent that the want of adiorough distinction ia
this matter, through the defect either of sufficient discernment or
cai'e, has been the chief thing that has obscured, obstructed,
and brought to a stand all remarkable revivals of religion which
have been since the beginning of tiie reformation ; the very
chief reason why the n\ost hopeful and promising beginnings
have never come to any more than beginnings ; being nipt in
the bud, and soon followed with a great increase of stupidity,
corrupt principles, a profane aiKl atheistical spirit, and the tri-
umph of the open enemies of religion. And from hence, and
from what has been so evident, from lime to time, in tliese lat-
ter ages of the church, and from the small acquaintance I have
with the history of preceding times, I cannot but think, tliat if
the events, which have appeared from age to age, should be

274980

iv PREFACE.

carefully examined and considered, it would appear that it ha»
been tUus in all ages ofthe Christian Church from the beginning.

They, therefore, who bring any addition of Ught to this great
subject, The nature of true religion^ and its distinction from
all counterfeits, should be accepted as doing the greatest possi-
ble service to the Church of God. And attempts to this end
ought not to be despised and discouraged, under a notion that
it is but vanity and arrogance in such as are lately sprung up
in an obscure part of the world, to pretend to add any thing on
this subject, to the informations we have long since received
from their fathers, who have lived in former times, in New-
England, and more noted countries. We cannot suppose
that the Church of God is already possessed of all that light, in
things of this nature, that ever God intends to give it ; nor that
all Satan's lurking-places have already been found out. And
must we let that grand adversary alone in his devices, to en-
snare and ruin the souls of men, and confound the interest of
religion amongst us, without attempting to kno^v any thing
further of his wiles than others have told us, tliough we see
eveiy day the most fatal effects of his hitherto unobserved
snares, for fear we shall be guilty of vanity or want of modes-
ty, in attempting to discern any thing that was not fully ob-
served by our betters in former times ; and that, whatever
peculiar opportunities God gives us, by special dispensations
of his providence, to see some things that were over-looked
by them ?

The remarkable things that have come to pass, in late times,
respecting the state of religion, I think, will give every wise
observer great reason to determine that the counterfeits of the
grace of God's spirit are many more than have been general-
ly taken notice of heretofore ; and that, therefore, we stand in
great need of having the certain and distinguishing nature and
marks of genuine religion more clearly and distinctly set forth
than has been usual ; so that the difference between that and
every thing that is spurious may be more plainly and surely
discerned, and safely determined.

PREFACE. V

As enquiries of this nature are very important and necessa-
ry in themselves, so they are what the present state of religion
in New-England, and other parts of the British dominioris^
do in a peculiar manner render necessary at tliis season ; and
also do give peculiar opportunity for discoveries beyond what
has been for a long time. Satan, transforming himself into an
angel of light, hu3 shewn himself in many of his artifices more
plainly than ordinary ; and given us opportunity to see more
clearly and exactly the difference between his operations, and
the saving operations and fruits of the spirit of Christ : And
we should be much to blame, if we did not improve such an
advantage.

The author of tlie ensuing treatise has not been negligent of
these opportunities. He has not been an unwary or undis-
ccrning observer of events that have occurred these ten years
past. From the intimate acquaintance wiUi him, which I have
been favored with for many years, I have abundant reason to
be satisfied that what has governed him in this publication, is
no vanity of mind, no aftectation to appear in the world as an
author, nor any desire of applause ; but a hearty concern for
tlie glory of GOD, and the kingdom and interest of his Lord
and Master, Jesus Christ : And, that as to the main things
he here insists on, as belonging to the distinguishing nature
and essence of true religion, he declai-es them, not only as be-,
ing satisfied of them, from a careful consideration of important
facts, (which he has had great opportunity to observe), and ve-
ry clear experience in his own soul ; but the most diligent
search of the holy scriptures, and strict examination of the na-
ture of things ; and that his determinations concerning the
nature of genuine religion, here exhibited to the world, have
not been settled and published by him without long considera-
tion, and maturely weighing all objections which could be
thought of, taking all opportunities to hear what could be said
by all sorts of persons against the principles here laid down,
from time to time conversing freely and friendly with gentle-
men in die Arminian scheme, having also had much acquaint-

2^74980

Vi PREFACE.

ance, and frequent and long conversation with many of the peo-
ple called Separatists^ their preachers, and others.

And I cannot but express my sincere wishes, that -what is
liere written by this reverend and pious p.uthor, may be taken
notice of, read without prejudice, and thoroughly considered :
As I verily believe, from my own perusal, it will be found a
discourse wherein the proper essence and distinguishing na-
ture of saving religion is deduced from the first principles of
the oracles of God, in a manner tending to a great increase of
light in this infinitely important subject.... discovering truth,
and, at the same time, shewing the grounds of it, or shewing
v/hat things are true, and also why they are true. ...manifest*
ing the mutual dependance of the various parts of tb^ true
scheme of religion, and also the foundation of the whole....
things being reduced to their first principles in such a manner,
that the connection and reason of things, as well as their agree-
ment with the word of God, may be easily seen ; and the true
source of the dangerous errors concerning the terms of God's
favor and qualifications for heaven, which are prevailing at this
day, is plainly discovered j shewing their falsehood at the ve-
ry foundation, and their inconsistence with the very first prin-
ciples of the religion of the bible.

Such a discourse as this is very seasonable at this day : And
although the author (as he declares), has aimed especially at
the benefit of persons of vulgar capacity ; and so has not la-
bored for such ornaments of style and language as might best
suit the taste of men of polite literature ; yet the matter or sulj-
stance that is to be found in this discourse, is what, I trust,
will be very entertaining and profitable to every serious and
impartial reader, whether learned or unlearned.

JONATHAN EDWARDS.

Northampton^ August 4, 1750.

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

W E are designed, by GOD our maker, for an endl-ss existence.
In this present life we just enter upon being, and are in a state introduc-
tory to a ncver-endingditraticn in another world, where we ar" to be for-
ever unspeakably happy, or miserable, according to our present conduct.
7 "A/i 15 designed for a state of probation ,- and that, for a state of rei-'ardt
zwi puKtsiiments . We are now upon trial, and God's eye is upon us eve-
ry moment ; and that picture of ourselves, which we exhibit in our con-
duct, the whole of it taken together, will give our proper character, and
determine our state forever. This being designed for a state of trial,
God now means to try us, that our conduct, under all the trials of life,
may discover what we are, and ripen us for the day of judgment ; when
God will judge every man according to his works, and render to every
one according to his doings. He does not intend, in the dispensations of
his providence, to suit things to a state of ease and enjoyment, which is
what this life is not designed for ; but to a state of trial : He puts men
into trying circumstances of set purpose, and, as it were, contrives meth-
ods to try them. One great end he has in view, is, that he may prove
them, and know what is in their hearts.

He did not lead the children of Israel directly from ^gypt to Canaan, but
first through the Ifed .Tea, and then out into a wilderness, where there was
neither water, nor bread, nor flesh ; and made them wander there forty
years, that he might try thevr, and pro\<e tbem, and knov) ivbat teas in their
hearts.. ..DcMt. viii. 2. So, when the christian religion was introduced in-
to the world, it was not in sucii a way as men would have chosen, but in
a manner suited to a state of trial. Tlie Son of God did not come in
outward glory, but in the form of a servant — not to reign as. an earthly
prince, but to die upon the cross : And his apostles made but a mean ap-
pearance in the eyts of the world ; and that s€ct was every where fpoken
agaii\st, aud persecuted ; and many were the stumbling-blocks of the
times : And these things were to try the temper of mankind. And when
christian churches were erected by the iudef;.ti<;able labors cf St. Paii,
and others, that God might thoroughly try every heart, he not only suf-
fercd the wicked world to rise in arms against them, but also let Satan
loose, to transform himself into an Argelcf Light, and, as it were, to in-
spMre.and so«d forth hi>i ministers, transformed «uto the apostles of Christ,

Vill THE AUTHOR S PREFACE.

to vent heretical doctrines, and foment strife and divlsioH. In the Tne&«
while, the secure and wicked world looked on, pleased, no doubt, to see
their debates and divisions, and glad they could have such a handle against
Christianity, and so good a plea to justify their infidelity : And God de-
lighted to have things under circumstances so perfectly well adapted to 9.
state of trial. He loved to try the apostles, to see how they would be af-
fected and act ; when not only the world vras in arms against them, but
many of their own converts turned to be their enemies too, by the influ-
ence of false teachers. He loved to try private christians, to see how
their hearts would be affected towards the truths of the gospel, and the
true ministers of Christ, and towards their temporal interest, while the
truths of the gospel v/ere denied or perverted, and the true ministers of
Christ despised and stigmatized by heretics, and their temporal interest
exposed to the rage of a wicked, merciless world : And he loved to try hyp-
ocrites, to see whether they would not renounce the truth they pretended so
highly to value, and become disaffected towards the ministers of Christ they
seemed so dearly to love, and follow false teachers, or fall off to the world.

It is reasonable and fit, and a thing becoming and beautiful, that beings
in a state of probation should be tried ; and God looks upon- the present
outward ease and comfort even of his own people, as a matter of no im-
portance, compared with things spiritual and eternal. Eternity, with all
its importance, lies open to his view ; and time appears as a point, and
all its concerns as thinj'^s comparatively of no worth. If the wicked
are in prosperity, and the righteous in adversity, or all things come alike
to all, God is well pleased, because things of time are of so little impor-
tance, and because such an administration of things is suited to a state of trial.
There will be time enough hereafter for the righteous to be rewarded, and
the wicked punished. In this view of things, we may, in a measure, un-
derstand the darkest, and account for the most mysterious, dispensations
of divine providence, and discern the wisdom of the divine government.

It has doubtless appeared as a thing strange and dark to many pious
persons, and occasioned not a little perplexity of mind, to observe what
has come to pass in Nenu-England since the year 1740.... That there should
be so general an out-pouring of the spirit — so many hundreds and thou»
Bands awakened all over the country, and such an almost universal exter-
nal reformation, and so many receive the word with joy ; and yet, after
all, things come to be as they now are : so many fallen away to carnal
security, and so many turned enthusiasts and heretics, and the country so
generally settled in their prejudices against experimental religion and the
doctrines of the gospel, and a flood of Ariyiinianism and immoralitj',
ready to deluge the land : but, as strange and dark as it may have seemed,
yet doubdess if any of us had lived with the Israelites In the wilderness,
or in the three first ages after Christ, or in the time of the reformation

THE AUTHORS PREFACE. IX

ft-om Papery, the dispensations of Divine Providence would , upon ihe
whole, have appeared much more mysterious than they do now. And
yet those were times when God was doing glorious things for his Church.
— And indeed, it has happened in our day, however strange it may seem
to us, no otherwise than our Savior foretold it commonly would ujidcr the
gospel dispensation, at least till Satan is bound, that he may deceive the
nations no more. The soiver goes forth to sow, and some seed falls by the
•way-side, and some on stony, and some on thorny, and some on j,ood
ground ; and while he is sowing good seed, an enemy in the night, the
devil, unobserved, sows tares : Now when the sun is up, i. e. when new
times come on, and trials approach, the main of the seed is lost ; not only
what fell by the way-side, but also what fell on the stony and thorny
ground. And when X.\\e good ground is about to bring forth fruit, the tares
bc,q;in to appear too.... ilf^f. xiii. Thus it has always been. — This is a state
of trial, and God has permitted so many sad a'ul awful things to happen
in times of reformation, with design to prove the children of men, and
know what is in their hearts.

The young people almost all over Neiv-England professed they would
for ever renounce youthful vanities, and seek the Lord. " Well," God,
in the course of his Providence, as it were, says, " I will try you."
Seeming converts expressed great love to Christ, his truths, and ministers,
and ways ; " Well," says God, " I will try you." Multitudes, being
enemies to all true religion, longed to see the whole reformation fall into
disgrace, and things return to their own channel ; and they sought for
objections and stumbling-blocks : " Well," says God, " You inay have
" them, and I will try and see how you will be affected, and what you
" will say, and whether you will be as glad when the cause of my Son
" is betrayed by the miscarriages of those that profess to be his friends,
" as the yems of old were, when my Son himself was betrayed into their
hands by yudas." Thus God means to try every one.

A compassionate sense of the exercises, which godly persons, especial-
ly among common people, might be under, in these evil days, while some
are fallen away, and others are clajiping their hands and rejoicing with
all their hearts to see Zion laid waste ; while Anninians are glossing their
scheme, and appealing to reason and common sense, as though their
principles were near or quite self-evident to all men of thought and can-
dor ; and while enthusiasts are going about as n\cn inspired and immedi-
ately sent by the Almighty, pretending to extraordinary sanctity, and bold
in it that they are so holy in themselves, and so entirely on the Lord's
side, that all godly people must, and cannot but sec as they do, and fall
in with thorn, unless they are become blind, dead and carnal, and gotten
back into tlie world; a compassionate sense, I say, of the exercises of
mind, which pious persons among common people nii^ht have, in such a

B

X THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

tryingMtuation of things, ^vas the first motive which excitedtne to enter
upon this work, which I now offer to the public : And to ntake divine
truths plain to such, and to strip error naked before their eyes, that they
might be estabiislied, and comforted, and quickened in their way heaven-
ward, wus the end I had in view : and, accordingly, I have laboted'very
much to adapt myself to the lowest capacities, not meaning to write a
book for the learned anJ poiire, but -for common people, and especially
for those who are godly among thenn.

To these, therefore, that they may read what i have written with the
greater pYofit, I will offer these two directions :

1. 'Labor after deterininate ideas of God, and a sense (f'his infinite
glory. This will spread a light overall the duties and doctrines of reli-
gion, and help you to understand the law and the gospel, and to pry into
the mysteries, and discern the beauties, of the divine government. By
much the greatest part of what I have written, besides shewing what
God is, consists in but so many propositions deduced from the divine
perfections. Begin here, therefore, and learn what God Is, and then
what the nnoral laiv is ; and this will help you to imderstand what our
ruin is, and what the way of our recovery by free grace through Jesu«
Christ. The Bible is designed for rational creatures, and has^God for
its author ; and you may therefore depend upon it, that it contains a
scheme perfectly rational, divine and glorious ; arnd the pleasure of divine
knowledge will a thousand times more than recoinpence all your reading,
study and pains ^ only content not yourselves with a general superficial
knowledge, 'but enter thoroughly into things.

2. Practice, as well as read. The end of reading and knowledge is
|)ractii\^: and holy practice will help you to understand what you read.
JLwoc God ^Mitb all your bean, and your neighbor as yourself ; and you cannot
but understand me, whik, in the first Discourse, I shew v,-hat is implied
in these two great -commands : and practice repentance towards God,
and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ; and the second Discourse,
wliich treats of the nature of the gospel, and a genuine compliance there-
with, will naturally becon^fi plain and easy : and while you daily study
divine truths in your heads, and digest them well in your hearts, and
practice them in your lives, your knowledge and holiness will increase,
and God's word and providence be better understood, your perplexing
difficulties will be more solved, and you be established, strengthened and
comforted, in your way heaven-ward ; and your light shining before
men, they will see your good works, and your Father which is in Heaven
will be glorified, — AU which are the hearty desire and prayer of

Your Servant in Jesus Christ,

JOSEPH BELLAMY.

Bethiem, April 25, 1750.

Cnie laeUgion DrlmratcD.

DISCOURSE I.

SHEAVING THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE LAW, AND vrJlEREIN
CONSISTIi A REAL CONTOR:! ITV TO IT.

MAT XXII. 37. 38. 39, 40.

^e'sus said finto biiti, thou shalt love the Lordtby God vritb alt iby heart, av.d
Kuith ail thy sou/, and with all thy mind. ...7 his is the Jirst and great cnin-
tnund itwnt — And the second is ii*e unto it, thou shall love thy neighbor a<;
thyself ....On tbcst tvio coniitiandtnent^ hang ail the las3 and (be pr.^Jiictt.

THE INTRODUCTION.

X RUE i-eliglon consists in a conformit)- to the laju of
God,, and in a compliance with the gospel of Christ. The re-
ligion of innocent man consisted onlv in a conformity to the
law — the law of nature, with the addition of one positive pre-
cept : he had no need of gospel-grace. But m hen man lost
his iniiocencA', and became guilty and depi*aved — when lit fell
under the wrath of God and powerof J5in,he needed a redeem-
er and a sanctifier ; and in the gospel a redeemer :md a sanc-
tifier are provided, and a way for our obtaining pardoning mer-
cy and sanctifying grace is opened — a compliance with which
does now, therefore, become part of the religion> of a f;illcn
creature.. Now, if we cau but rightlv understand the /cni', and
righily understand die gospel^ we m.ay ca^^tly see wherein a
conformity to • the one, and a compliance with the other, does
consist ; and so what true religion is.

For the present, let us take the Lnu under consideration. —
And it will be proper to enquire into these following particu-

2 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

lars : — 1 . What duty does God require of us in his law ? — 2.
From what motives must that duty be done ? — 3. What is that
precise measure of duty which God requires in his law ? And
a short, but very clear and plain answer to all these questions
we have before us in our text ; which is the words of our blessed
Savior, and in which he does upon design declare what the sum
and substance of the law is. He had a question put to him in these
words : " Master, which is the great commandment in the
law ?" To which he answers — " Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, &c. ; this is the first : The second
is like unto it, 8);c." The ten commandments are summed up
in these two j and every duty enjoined in the law, and incul-
cated in the prophets, is but a deduction from these two,
in which all are radically contained. A thorough under-
standing of these two will therefore give us an insight into
all. Let us now, therefore, begin with taking the Ji7-st of these
into particular consideration. — Thoic shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy hearty &c....Here is — 1. The duty required,
viz. love to God. — 2. The gi-ounds and reasons of the duty va-
X\msX<tii.„.Because he is the Lord our God. — 3. The measure of
duty required.... rF/7/j all thy hearty &c.

In discoursing upon these words, I will therefore endeavor
to shew,

I. What is implied in love to God.

IL From what motives we are required to love him.

III. What is the measui-e of love which is required.

SECriON I.
SHEWING WHAT IS IMPLIED IN LOVE TO GOD.

I. I am to shew xohat is implied in love to God.
And

1 . A true knowledge of God is implied; for this lays the foun-
dation of love. A spiritual sight of God, and a sense of his
glory and beauty, begets love. When he that commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, shines in our hearts, and
gives us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God ; and
when we, with open face, behold, as in a glass, the glory of the

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 3

Lord, then we ai-e changed into the same image : the temper
and frame of our hearts become Uke God's : (to speak after
the manner of men) we beghi to feel towards God, in a meas-
ure, as he does towards himself; i. e. to love him with all our
hearts... .II Cor. iii. 18. & iv. G. For now we begin to perceive
the grounds and reasons of that infinite esteem he has of him-
self, and infinite complacency in himsell, and why he commands
all the world to love and adore him : And the same grounds and
reasons which move him thus to love himself, and command all
the world to do so too, do enkindle the divine flame in our hearts.
When we see God, in a measure, such as he sees himself to be,
and have a sense of his glory and beauty in being what he is, in
a measure, as he himself has, then we begin to love him with
the same kind of love, and from the same motives, iis he himself
does ; only in an infinitely inferior degree. This sight and sense
of God discovers the grounds of love to him : We see why he
requires us to love him, and why we ought to love him — how
right and fit it is ; and so we cannot but love him.

This true knowledge of God supposes, that, in a measure,
we see God to be just such a one as he is ; and, in a measure,
have a sense of his infinite glory and beauty in being such.
For if our apprehensions of God are not right, it is not God
we love, but only a false image of him framed in our own
fancy.* And if we have not a sense ofhisglor}' and beauty

• How false and dangerous, therefore, is that principle, " That it is no
matter what men's principles are, if their lives be hut good." — Just as if
that external conformity to the law might he called a good life, which
does not proceed from a genuine love to God in the heart : or Just as if
a. man might have a genuine love to God in his heart, without having
right apprehensions of him !...or just as if a man might have right appre-
hensions of God, let liis apprehensions be what they will ! Upon this
princij)le, Heaibcns, ytr^'s, and M.iLoinctar.s, may be saved as well as
Christ inns. And, ujjon this principle, the licathen nations need not much
trouble themselves to know wiiich is the right God among all the gods
that are worshipped in the world ; for it is no matter ii'A/cj6 GoJ they think
is the true, if their lives are but good. — But why has God revealed him-
self in his word, if right an])rehensions of God be a matter of such ind.t-
ference in religion ? and why did St. Paul take such pains to convert tlie.
heathen nations to Christianity, and so much fill up his epistles to them
afterwards with doctrinal paints, and be so strenuous as to say, " If an an-
gel frt)m heave ii should preach any other gospt-I, let him p.e accur-
sed," if right apprehensions of God, and right principles of rclijion be a.

4 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

in being what he is, it is impossible we should truly love
ani esteem him for being such. To love God for being what
he is, and yet not to have any sense of his glory and beauty in
being such, implies a contradiction ; for it supposes we have
a sense of his glory and.beauty when we have not : a sense of
the beauty and amiableness of any object being always neces-
sarily implied in love to it. Where no beauty or amiableness
is- seen there can be no love. Love cannot be forced. Forced
love is no love. If we ai-e obliged to try to force ourselves to
love any body, it is a sign they are very odious in our eyes, or
at least that we see no beauty or amiableness in them, no
form or comeliness, wherefore we should desire or delight in
them,. .. Cant. x'm. 7. In all cases, so far as we see beautv, so
far we love, and no farther.

Most certainly that knowledge of God which is necessary
to lay a foundation of genuine love to him, implies not only
right apprehensions of what he is, but also a sense of his glory
and beauty in being such ; for such a knowledge of God as
consists merely in speculatio?!^ let it rise ever so high, and be

matter of such indifference ? — It is strange that such a notion should be
ever once mentioned by any that pretend to be Christians, since it is sub-
versive of the whole Christian religion : making Christianity no safer a way
to heaven than Faganism : Yea, such a principle naturally tends to make
all those who imbibe it leave love to God and faith in Christ out of their
religion, and quiet theinselves with a mere empty fornn of external duties c
Or, in other words, it tends to make them leave the /aw and t\\t gospel out
of their religion, and quiet themselves with mere heathen inurality ,■ for a
man cannot attain to love to God a.nd faith in Christ, without right appre-
hensions of God and Christ : Or, in other words, a man cannot attain to a
real conformity to the law, and to a genuine coiripliance with the gospel*;
unless his principles respecting the law and gospel are right : but a man
may attain to a good life, externally, let his apprehensions of God and
Christy of lav and gospel, and all his principles of religion, be what they
will. Let hira be a lieathen, or Jew, a Mahometan, or Christian ; yea,
if a man be an Atheist, he may live a good life externally ; for any inan
has sufficient power to do evei-y external duty ; and it is many times much
to men's honor and worldly interest to appear righteous outwardly befort
»!£«.. ..Mat. xxiii. 28.

. N. B. What is here said, may, with a little alteration, be as well applii-
ed to sorrie other sorts of men. So the Moravians say " They care not
what men's principles are, if they do but love the Savior." So, in Kew-
England, there are multitudes v/ho care little or nothing what doctrines
men believe, if they are but full of flami ng zeai,. Just as if it were no
matter what kind of Savior we frame an idea of, if we do but love him ;
nor what we are zealous about, if v/e are but fi.amikg hot.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUXTERTriTS. 5

ever SO clear, will never move us to love him. INIerc specula-
tion, where there is no sense of beauty, will no sooner fill the
heart with love, than a looking-glass will be filled with love by
the image of a beautiful countenance, which looks into it : and
a mere speculative knowledge of God, will not, cannot, beget
a sense of his beauty in being what he is, when there is naturally
no disposition in ourhearts to account him glorious in being such,
but wholly to the contrary. Rom. viii. 7.... The carnal miudh en-
viity against God. When natures are in perfect contrariet}-,
(the one sinful, and the other holy,) the more they are known
to each other, the more is mutual hatred stirred up, and their
entire aversion to each other becomes more sensible. The
more they know of one another, the greater is their dislike, and
the plainer do they feel it. — Doubtless the fallen angels have
a gi-eat degree of speculative knowledge ; they have a ver\- clear
sight and great sense of what God is : but the more they know
of God, the more they hate him : /. e. their hatred and aver-
sion is stirred up the more, and they feci it plainer. So, awa-
kened sinners, when under deep and thorough conviction, have
comparatively a veiy clear sight and great sense of God ; but
it only makes them see and feel tlieir native enmity, which be-
fore lay hid. A sight and sense of what God is, makes thera
see and feel what his law is, and so what their duty is, and so
what their sinfulness is, and so what their danger is : It makes
the commandment come^ and so siti revives^ and the ij die.... Kom.
vii. 7, 8, 9. The clearer sight and the greater sense they have
of what God is, tlie more plainly do they percei\e that perfect
contrariety between his nature and theh-'s ; their aversion to
God becomes discernible : tliey begin to see what enemies
they are to him ; and so the secret hypocrisy there has been in
all their pretences of love, is discovered — and so their high con-
ceit of their goodness, and all their hopes of finding favor in the
sight of God upon the account of it, cease, die away, and come
to nothing. Sin revived, and I died. The gieater sight and
sense they ha\ e of what Cxod is, the plainer do they feel that
tiiey have no love to him ; but the g:-eatest aversion : for the

6 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

more they know of God, the more their native enmitj' is stirred
lip. So, again, as soon as ever an unrcgenerate, sinner enters
into tlie world of spirits, where he has a much clearer sight
and greater sense of what God is, immediately his native en-
mity v,-orks to perfection, and he blasphemes like a very devil :
and that aldiough perhaps he died full of seeming love and joy.
As the Galatians^ who once loved Paitl^ so as that they could
even have plucked out their eyes and given them to him ; yet,
when afterwards they came to know more clearly what kind of
man he was, then they turned his enemies ; And soj finally, all the
wicked, at the day of Judgment ,when they shall see ver\' clear-
ly what God is, will thereby only have all the enmity of their
hearts stirred to perfection. — From all which it is exceedingly
manifest that the clearest speculative knowledge of God, is so
far from bringing an unholy heart to love God, that it will only
stir up the more aversion ; and therefore that knowledge of
God which lays the foundation of love, must imply not only
right apprehensions of what God is, but also a sense of his glo-
ry and beauty in being such.*

Wicked men and devils may know what God is, but none
but holy beings have any setise of his infinite glory and beauty In
being such; which sefise^ in scripture-language, is called sm;??"
and knoxvlng. . I. John iii. 6. Whosoever sinneth^hath not seen
h'nii^ neither known him. III. John, ver. 11. He that doth evil
hath not seen God. I. John ii. 4. He thatsaith^ I knoiv Azm,
and keepeth not his coimnandments, is a liar^ and the truth is not

* I grant, that if all our enmity against God arise merely froin our
conceiving hini to be our eneiny, then a manifestation of his love to our
souls will cause our enmity to cease, and bring us to love him ; nor will
there be anv need of a sense of the moral excellency of his nature to pro-
duce it ; and so there will be no need of the sanctifying influences of the
holy spirit. A manifestation of the love of God to our souls will eftectu-
allv change us.... and thus a man may be under great terrors from a sense
of the wrath of God, and may see the enmity of his heart in this sense;
and may afrei-wards have, as he thinks, great manifestations of the love
of God, and be tilled with love and joy ; and after ail, never truly see the
plague of his own heart, nor have his nature renewed : and a man's ha^-ing
experienced such a false conversion, naturally leads him to fram.e wrong
notions of religion, and blinds his mind against the truth. Many of the
Ar.tinomian principles take rise froiii this quarter.

DISTINCUISKED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 7

in him. Because wicked men have no sense of his glor}' and
beauty, tiierefore they are said not to know God : For all
knowledge without this is vain ; it is but the form of knowledge
....Rom. ii. 20. It will never enkindle divine love. And, in
scripture, sinners are said to be hUnd^ because, after all their
light and knowledge, they have no sense of God's glory in be-
"ing what he is, and so have no heart to love him. And hence
also they are said to be dead. They know nothing of the in-
effable glory of the divine nature, and the love of God is not
in thera....yo/m v. 42. andviii. 19, 55.

2. Another thing implied in love to God is esteem. Esteem,
strictly speaking, is that high and exalted thought of, and value
for, any thing, which arises from a sight and sense of its omti
intrinsic worth, excellency and beauty. So, a sense of the infi-
nite dignity, greatness, glory, excellency and beauty of the
most high God, begets in us high and exalted thoughts of him,
and makes us admire, wonder and adore. Hence, the heaven-
ly hosts fall down before the throne, and, under a sense of his
ineffable glory, continually cr}-, Ifoly, ^^^'i/? holij, Lord God Al-
mightJj^ the whole earth is full of thy glorij. And Saints here
below, while they behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord,
are ravished ; they esteem, they admire, they wonder and
adore ; and, under some feebler sense of the inefiiible glory of
die divine nature, they begin to feel as they do in heaven, and
to speak their language, and say, " Who is a God like unto
thee ! thy name alone is excellent, and thy j^^lory is exalted
above the heavens."

This high esteem of God disposes and inclines the heart to
acquiesce, yea, to exult, in all the high prerogatives God as-
sumes to himself.

God, from a consciousness of his own infinite excellency, his
entire right to and absolute audiority over all things, is dispos-
ed to take state to himself, and honor and niajc&ty, tlie king-
dom, the power and the glory ; and he sets up himself as .tli-
most high God, supreme Lord and sovereign Governor of the

whole world, and bids all worlds adore him, and be in a met

C

8 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

perfect subjection to him, and that with all their hearts ; and
esteems the wretch, who does not account this his highest hap-
piness, worthy of eternal damnation. God thinks it infinitely
becomes him to set up himself for a God, and to command all
the world to adore him, upon pain of eternal damnation. He
thinks himself fit to govern the world, and that the throne is his
proper place, and that all love, honor and obedience are his due.
*' I am the Lord, (says he) and besides me there is no God.
*' I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give
*' to another. And thus and thus shall }'e do, for I am the
" Lord. And cursed be every one that continues not in all
" things written in the book of the law to do them." Now it
would be infinitely wicked for the highest angel in Heaven to
assume any of this honor to himself ; but it infinitely becomes
the most high God thus to do. And when we see his infinite
dignity, greatness, glory and excellency, and begin rightly to
esteem him, then his conduct, in all this, will begin to appear
infinitely right and fit, and so infinitely beautiful and ravishing,
and worthy to be rejoiced and exulted in. Psalm xci. l,...The
Lord reigneth^ let the earth rejoice : let the multitude of the isles
be glad thereof.

And a sight and sense of the supreme, infinite glorv and ex-
cellency of the divine nature, will not only make us glad that he
is God, and King, and Governor ; but also exceedingly glad
that we live under his government, and are to be his subjects
and servants, and to be at his disposal.. ..It will shew us the
grounds and reasons of his law... how infinitely right and fit it is
that we should love him with all our hearts, and obey him in
every thing ; how infinitely unfit and wrong the least sin is, and
howjustthe threatened punishment : and, at the same time, it
will help us to see that all the nations of the earth are as a drop
of the bucket, or small dust of the balance, before him ; and
that we ourselves are nothing and less than nothing in his sight.
So that a right sight and sense of the supreme, infinite glory of
God, will make us esteem hina, so as to be glad diat he is on
the throne, and we at his footstool. ...that he is king, and we hi*

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 9

subjects,.. that he rules and reigns, and that we are absolutely
in subjection, and absolutely at his disposal. In a word, we
shall be glad to see him take all that honor to himself which he
does, and shall be heartily reconciled to his govcrhment, and
cordially willing to take our own proper places ; and hereby a
foundadon will begin to be laid in our hearts for all things to
come to rights. Job xlii. 5, 6..., J have heard of thee by the hear'
jjig of the ear: but noiv mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I ab-
hor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Isn. ii. 1 1 ... The lofty
looks of man shall be humbled^ and the haughtiness of man shall
he brought doxun, and the Lord alone shall be exalted. ...And that
all this is implied in a genuine love to God, not only the rea-
son of the thing and the plain tenor of scripture manifest,
but it is even self-evident ; for if we do not so esteem God as
to be thus glad to have him take his place, and we ours^ it argues
secret dislike, and proves that there is secret rebellion in our
hearts : Thus, therefore, n^ust we gsteem the glorious God, or
be repijted rebels in his sight.

0. Another thing implied in lo^c to God may be called be-
nevolence. When we are acqviainted with any person, and he
appears very excellent in our eyes, and we highly esteem him,
it is natural now heartily to wish him well ; we are conccnipd
for his interest ; we are glad to see it go well with him, aivi
sorry to see it go ill widi him ; and ready at all times chearful-
ly to do what we can tp promote his welfare. Thus Jjonathan
felt towards David : and thus love to God will make usj'eel to-
wards him, his honor and interest in the world. When. God
is seen in his infuiite dignity, greatness, glory and excelleucy,
Jis the most high God, sunrem.e Lprd. and. sovereign governor
of the whole world, and a sense of his infinite worthiness is
hereby raised in our hearts, this enkindles a holv bei;c:vo!ence,
the naturallanguagc of which is. Let, God be gL ri/ied., ..Fsalm
xcvi. 7, B^.. 4>ul be thou exalted^ Q God^ above the heavens : let.
thy glory be above all the earth.. ,,Fsa\m Ivii. 5, 11.

This holy disposition sometimes expresses itself in earned
longings that God would glorify himself, and honor his gve;it

10 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

name ; and bring all the world into an entire subjection to him.
And hence this is the natural language of true love. ...Our father
which art in Heaven^ hallowed be thy 7iame, thy kingdom comCy
thy will be done on earthy as it is in Heaven... .^3it. vi. 9, 10.
And hence, when God is about to bring to pass great and glo-
rious things to the honor of his great name, it causes great joy
and rejoicing. Psalm xcvi. 11, 12, 13. ...Let the heavens rejoicCy
and let the earth be glad : let the sea roar and the fulness there-
of: let the field bejoyful^ and all that is therein : then shall the
trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord ; for he cometh^for he
Cometh to judge the earth : he shall judge the world with 7-ight-
eousness^ and the people xvith his truth.

And hence again, when God seems to be about to do, or per-
mit, any thing., which, as it seems to us, tends most certainly to
bring reproach and dishonor upon his great name, it occasions
the greatest anguish and distress. Thus says God to Moses,
" This is a stiff-necked people, let me alone that I may destroy
" them in a moment, and I will make of thee a great nation."
But says IMoses, " What will become of thy great name ?
" What will the Egyptians say ? And what will the nations all
>' round about say r" And he mourns and wrestles, cries and
prays, begs and pleads, as if his heart would break : and says
he, " If I may not be heard, but this dishonor and reproach
" must come upon thy gi-eat name, it cannot comfort me to tell
" me of making of me a great nation : pray let me rather die
*' and be forgotten forever, and let not my name be numbered
*' among the living ; but let it be blotted out of thy book."
Well, says God, " I will hear thee. But, as truly as I live, I
" will never put up these affronts ; but the whole world shall
*' knov/ what a holy and sin-hating God I am, and be filled
•' Vt^ith my glory : for the carcases of all those who have treat-
" ed me thus shall fall in the wilderness ; and here they shall
" v/ander till forty 5'ears are accomplished, and then I v/ill do
" so and so to their children, and so secure the honor of my
*' power, truth and faithfulness." And nov/ Moses is content
to live in the v/ilderaess, and do, and suffer, and undergo any

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 11

thing, if God will but take care of his gi-eatname. Exod. xxxii.
Numb. xiv....An(l as it is distressing toatrue lover of God, to
see God's name, and works, and ways fall into reproach and
contempt ; and as, on the other hand, there is no greater joy than
to see God glorify himself (Exod. xv. J ; hence, this world,
even on this account, may be fitly called a vale of tears to the
people of God, because here they are always seeing reproach
and contempt cast upon God, his name, his works and his ways :
And hence, at tlie day of judgment, all these tears shall be
wiped away from their ejes, because then they shall see all
things turned to the advancement of the glory of his great name,
throughout the endless ages of etcmit}-..../v't^. xix. 1,2,3,4, 5.

Again, this divine benevolence, or wishing that God may
be glorified, sometimes expresses itself in earnest longings that
all worlds might join together to bless and praise the name of
the Lord ; and it appears infinitely fit and right, and so infi-
nitely beautiful and ra\ishing,that the whole intelligent creation
should forever join in the most solemn adoration : yea, and
that sun, moon, stars.. ..earth, air, sea....birds, beasts, fishes....
mountains and hills, and all things, should, in their way, dis-
play the divine perfections, and praise the name of the Lord,
because his name alone is excellent, and his glor)' is exalted
above the heavens. And hence the pious P.salmist so often
breathes this divine language : Psalm ciii. 20, 21, 22. ...Bless
the Lord, yc his angels^ that excel in strength — that do his com-
viandments^ hearkening unto the voice of his ivord. .. .Bless ije the
Lord^ all ye his hosts ^ ijc ministers of his ^ that do his pleasure...
Bless the Lord., all his xocrksy in all places of his dominion :
Bless the Lord, 0 my sou!. Psalm cxlviii, 1 — 13. ...Praise ye
the Lord.. ..Praise ye the Lord from the heavens : praise him in
the heights,. ..Praise him, all ye his angels : praise him, all his
hosts.. ..Praise him., sun and moon, &c. — Let them praise the
name of the Lord ; for his name alone is excellent, &c. See al-
so the<)J, 96, 97, 8^ 98th Psalms, 8cc. &c.

Lastly, from this divine benevolence arises a free and genu-
ine disj)osition^to consecrate and give up ourselves entirely to

12 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

the Lord forever — to walk in all his ways, and keep all his com-
mands, seeking his glory : For if we desire that God may ht
glorified, we shall naturally be disposed to seek his glory. A
sight and sense of the infinite dignity, greatness, glory and ex-
cellency of God, the great creator, preserver and governor of
the world, who has an entire right unto, and an absolute author-
ity over all things, makes it appear mfinitely fit that all things
should be for him, and him alone ; and that we should be en-
tirely for him, and wholly devoted to him ; and that it is infi-
nitely wrong to live to ourselves, and make our ov^n interest
our last end. The same views which make die godly earnest-
ly long to have God glorify himself, and to have all the world
join to give him glory, thoroughly engage them for their parts
to live to God. After David had called upon all others to bless
the Lord, he concludes with. Bless the Lord^ 0 my soul : And
this is the language of heaven — Rev. iv. 11....7%ow art tvorthijy
0 Lord, to receive glory , and honor, and poxver : For thoi^hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, andxvere crea-
ted. And it was their maxim in the Apostles' days. Whether
they ate or drank, or whatever they did, all must be done to the
glory of God... .1 Cor. x. 31. And it was their way, not. to live
to themselves, but to the Lord... .11 Cor. v.. 15 : Yea, Whether
they lived, to live to the Lord ; or ivhether they died, to die to the
Lord....Kom. xiv. 7, 8. This was what they commended..,.
JPhil. ii. 20, 21. And this was what they enjoined, as that, iji
which the very spirit of true religion consisted.... ^^/i. vi. 5, <5,

7 I Cor. vi. 20.— i?(j»2. xii, 1. &vii. 4.

All rational creatures, acting as such, are always influenced
by motives in their whole conduct. Those things are always
the most powerful motives, which appear to us most worthy of
our choice. The principal motive to an action, is always the
ultimate end of the action : Hence, if God, his honor and inte-
rest, appear to us as the supreme good, and most v, orthy of our
choice, then God, his honor, and interest, will be the principal
motive and ultimate end of all we do.^ If we love God su-
premely, we shall live to him ultimately ; if we love him widi

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 13

all our hearts, we shall serve him with all our souls : Just as,
on the other hand, if we love ourselves above all, then self-love
will absolutely govern us in all things ; if self-interest be the
principal motive, then self-interest will be the last end, in our
whole conduct : Thus, then, we see, tliat if God be highest in
esteem, then God'^s interest will be the principal motive and the
last end of the whole conduct of rational creatures ; aftd \i .^elf
be the highest in esteem, then self-interest will be the principal
motive and last end : And hence wc may observe, that where
self-interest governs men, they are considered in scripture as
serving themsehcs. ...}ios. x. 1. — Zee. vii. 5, 6. And where
God\- interest governs, they are considered as serving the Lord
....II Cor. V. 15. — Gal. i. 10. — Eph. vi. 5,G, T. compared with
Tit. ii. 9, 10. To love God so as to serve him, is what the
law requires ; — to love scf, so as to serve self is rebellion
against the majesty of heaven : And the same infinite obliga-
tions which we are under to love God above ourselves ; even
the same infinite obligations are we under to live to God ulti-
mately, and not to ourselves : And therefore it is as great a sin
to live to ourselves ultimately,as itis to love ourselves supremely.
4. and lastly. Delight in God, is also implied in love to him.
By delight we commonly mean that pleasure, sweetness and
satisfaction, which we take in any thing that is ver\- dear to us.
When a man appears veiy excellent to us, and we esteem him,
and wish him all good, we also, at the same time, feel a delight
in him, and a sweetness in his company and conversation ; we
long to see him when absent ; we rejoice in his presence ; the
enjoyment of him tends to make us happy : So, when a holy
soul beholds (jod in the infinite moral excellency and beauty of
his nature, and loves him supremely, and is devoted to him en-
tirely, now also he delights in him superlatively. His delight
and complacency is as great as his esteem, and arises from a
sense of the same moral excellency and beauty. From this de-
light in God arise longings after fmther acquaintance v/ith him,
and greater nearness to him. Job xxiii. C>...Othjt Iknexvivhcre
I might find him ^ that I might vj}ne even to his seut ! — Longings

t4 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

after communion with him. Psahn Ixiii. 1, 2....C Goc/, thou art
my God ; early xvill I seek thee : my soid thirstethfor thee : vnf
Jiesh longethfor thee in a dry and thirsty land^ xvhere no water
is.... To see thy poxuer and thy glory ^ so as I have seen thee in
the sanctuary. Verse 8....jlly sold folloTveth hard after thcc.
A holy rejoicing in God. Hab. iii. 1/, 18.... Although the fig-
tree shall not blossom^ neither shall fruit be in the vine ; the la-
bor of the olive* shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat ; the
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in
the stalls....7'et I xvill rejoice in the Lord, I xvill Joy in the God
of my salvation. Finall}', from this dehght in God arises a ho-
ly disposition to renomice all other things, and live wholly up-
on him, and take up everlasting content in him, and in him
alone. Psalm Ixxiii. 25, 26. ...Who7n have I in heayen but thee f
and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. ...My flesh
andmxj heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, and
my portion forever. The vain man takes content in vain com-
pany ; the worldly man takes content in riches ; the ambitious
man in honor and applause ; tlie philosopher in philosophical
speculations ; the legal hypocrite in his round of duties ; the
evangelical hypoprite in his experiences, his discoveries, his
jovs, his raptures, and confident expectation of heaven : But
the true lover of God takes his content in God himself. Psalm
iv. 6, 7. And thus we see what is implied in love to God.

And now, that this is a right representation of the nature of
tliat love which is required in the first and great commandment
of the law, upon which chiefly all the law and the prophets
hang, is manifest, not only from the reason of the thing, and
from what has been already said, but also from this, that such
a love to God as this laijs a sure and firm foundation for all ho^
ly obedience. That love to God is of the right kind, which will
effectually influence us to keep his commands. John xv. 14.
I. J'olm ii. 3, 4, 5. But it is evident, from the nature of things,
that such a love as this will effectually influence us to do so.
As self-love naturally causes us to set up self and seek self-inter-
est, so this love to God will naturally influence us to set up God

DISTINGUISHCD FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 15

and seek his interest. As delight in the world naturally makes
us seek after the enjoyment of the world, so this delight in God
will naturally influence us to seek after the enjoyment of God :
And while we love God primarily for being what he is, we
cannot but, for the same reason, love his law, which is a trans-
cript of his nature, and love to conform to it. If we loved him
only from self-love, from the fear of hell, or from the hopes of
heaven, we might,at the same time, hate his law : but if we love
him for being what he is, we cannot but love to be like him ;
which is what his law requires. To suppose that a man loves
God supremely for M'hat he is, and yet does not love to belike
him, i:> an evident contradiction. It isto suppose a thing supreme-
ly loved ; and yet, at the same time, not loved at all : So that,
to a demonstration, this is the very kind of love which the Lord
our God requires of us. So, saints in heaven love God perfectly,
and so the good man on earth begins, in a weak and feeble manner,
to love God : for there is but one kind of love required in the
law ; and so but one kind of love which is of the right sort: for
no kind of love can be of the right sort, but that very kind of
love which the law requires ; There is, therefore, no difference
between their love in heaven, and ours here upon earth, but-
only in degree.

SECnOX II.

SHEWING FROM WHAT MOTIVES TRUE LOVE TO GOD TAKES

ITS RISE.

II. I now proceed to shew more particularly y5o;n what mo-
tives xve are required thiia to love God. Indeed, I have done
this in part already ; for I have been obliged all along, in shew-
ing what is implied in love to God, to kei-p my e}e upon the first
and chief ground and reason ol love, namely, what CtocI is in
himself. But there are other considerations which increase our
obligations to love him and live to him ; whicii ought, there-
for^, to come, into the' account : And I design here to take a
general view of all the reasons and motives which ought to in-
fluence us to love the Lord our God ; all which are implied in .

D

16 TRUE RELIGION DLLINEATED, AND

those words, The Lord thy God. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, i. e. because he is the Lord and our God.

1. The first and chief motive which is to influence us to love
God with all our hearts, is his infinite dignity and greatness, glo'
rij and excellency ; or, in one word, his infnite amiableness. —
We are to love him with all our hearts, because he is the Lord
— because he is what he is, and just such a Being as he is. — On
this account, primarily, and antecedent to all other considera-
tions, he is infinitely amiable ; and, therefore, on this account,
primarily, and antecedent to all other considerations, ought he
to aijpear infinitely amiable in our eyes. This is the first and
chief reason and gi'ound upon which his laxv is founded, I am
THE 'LoKT)...CExod. XX. 2 — Lcv. xix. J This, therefore, ought
to be the first and chief motive to influence us to obey. The
principal reason which moves him to require us to love him,
ought to be the principal motive of our love. If the fundamen-
tal reason of his requiring us to love him with all our hearts, is
because he is what he is, and yet the bottom of our love be some-
thing else, then our love is not what his law requires, but a thing
of quite another nature : Yea, if the foundation of our love to
God is not because he is what he is, in truth, we love him not
at all. If I feel a sort of respect to one of my neighbors, who
is very kind to me, and either do not Enow what sort of man
he is, or, if I do, yet do not like him, it is plain, it is his kind-
nesses I love, and not his person ; and all my seeming love to
him is nothing but self-love in another shape : And let him
cease being kind to me, and my love will cease : Let him cross
me, and I shall hate him. Put forth thine hand now, and touch
all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face, (Job i. 1 1),
said the devil concerning Job ; and, indeed. Job would have done
so, had not his love to God taken its rise from another motive than
God*'s kindnesses to him. But why need I multiply words ?
For it seems even self-evident that God's loveliness ought to
be the first and chief thing for which we love him. • _ _

Now, God is infinitely lovely, because he is what he is ; or,
in other words, his infinite dignity and greatness, glory and ex-

DISTINdUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFKITS. 17

cellency, are the result of his natural and moral perfections :
So that it is a clear sight and realizing sense of his natural and
moral perfections, as they are revealed in his works and in his
word, that make him appear, to a holy soul, as a Being of in-
finite dignity and greatness, glor}- and excellency. Thus, the
Queen of 6'/ie^a, seeing and conversing with Solo?}ion, and view-
ing his works, under a sense of the large and noble endow-
ments of his mind, was even ravished ; and cried out, The one
half was not told me J And thus the holy and divinely enlight-
ened soul, upon seeing God, reading his word, and meditating
on his wonderful works, under a sense of his divine and in-
comprehensible perfections, is ravished with his infinite dignity,
majesty, greatness, glory and excellency ; and loves, admires,
and adores ; and says, IFho is a God like unto thee .'

His natural perfections are,

(1.) Hh injinite understandings whereby he knows himself,
and all things possible, and beholds all things past, present and
to come, at one all-conipi'ehensive view. So that, from ever-
lasting to everlasting, his knowledge can neither increase nor
diminish, or his views of things suffer the least variation ; being
always absolutely complete, and consequently necessarily al-
ways the same.

(2.) His ahnightij power^ whereby he is able, with infinite
ease, to do any thing that he pleases.

And his moral perfections are,

(1 .) His infmitc ■tvisdo?n, whereby he is able, and is inclined
to contrive and order all things, ia all woi^lds, for the best ends
and after the best manner.

(2.) His perfect holiness^ whereby he is Inclined infinitely to
love right, and hate wrong : Or, according to scripture-phrase,
to love righteousness and hate iniquity.

(3.) His impartial justice^ whereby he is unchangeably in-
clined to render to every one according to his deserts.

(4.) His infinite goodness, whereby he can find in his heart
to bestow the greatest favors upon his creatures, if he pleases ;
and is inclined to bestow all that is best, all things considered.

18 TRUE RELIGIOV DELINEATED, AND

(5.) His truth and faithfulness^ whereby he is indined to
fulfil all his will, according to his word: So that there is an ever-
lasting harmony between his will, his word, and his performance.

And his being, and all his natural and moral perfections,
and his glory and blessedness, which result from them, he has
in himself, and of himself, underived ; and is necessarily infi-
'nite, eternal, unchangeable, in all ; and so, absolutely indepen-
dent, self-sufticient and all-sufficient.

" This is the God, whom we do love !

" This is the God, whom we adore !

" In him we trust.... to him we live ;

" He is our all, for evermore.
Now there ai-e three ways by which the perfections of God are
discovered to the children of men : By his works, by his word, and
by his spirit. By the two first, we see him to b<? what he is ; — by
the last, we beholdhis infinite glory in being such : — The two first
produce a speculativeknowledge ; the last, asense of moral beauty.

First. These perfections of God are (Wscoxered hi/ his works,
i.e. by his creating^ prcserxnng^ znd governing the world; and by
his redeeming ^sanclifijing^ dxxd saving his people.

1. By his creating the -world. He it is, who has stretched
abroad the heavens as a curtain, and spread them out as a tent
to dwell in. ...who has created the sun, moon and stars, and
appointed them their courses. ...who has hung the earth upon
nothing.... who has fixed the mountains, and bounded the seas,
and formed every living creature. All the heavenly hosts he
hath made, and created all the nations that dwell upon the earth :
and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and the fishes
of the sea, and every creeping thing, are the works of his hands :
and the meanest of his works are full of unsearchable wonders,
far sui'passing our understanding : So that the invisible things
cf God^ from the creation of the xvorld^ are clearly seen^ being
understood by the things that are made., even his eternal power
and Godhead : As St. Paul observes, in Jiom. i. 20.

2. By his preserving the rrorld. His eyes run to and fro
throughout all the world, beholding every thing. His eyes are

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 19

upon all his works ; so that even the sparrows are not forgotten
by him, and the very hairs of our head are all numbered : And
he holds all things in being ; and the opening of his hand fills
the desires of every living creature : even the whole family of
heaven and earth live upon his goodness, and are maintained by
his bounty : In a word, his infinite understanding sees all.. ..his
infinite power upholds all. ...his infinite •wisdom takes care of.
all, and his infinite goodness provides for all — and that every
moment ; so that the invisible things of God are discovered in
preserving as well as in creating the world : And hence, when
the pious Psalmist meditates on the works oi creation and pres-
ervation, he sees God in them, and views his perfections, and
is touched at heart with a sense of his glory ; and is filled with
high and exalted, and with admiring and adoring thoughts of
God. So, Psalm xix. \....The hcavnis declare the glonj of the
Lord^ he. And Psalm xcv. 1....0 come let tis sing unto the
Lord^ &c. — Butwhv ? — Verse S...Fcr the Lord is a great God^
and a great King, above oil gods. — But how does this appear ?
Why, (ver. 4, 5.) In his hand are the deep places of the earth ;
the strength of the hills is his also : The sea is his, and he made it ;
and his hands formed the dry land : Ver. 6...C, therrfcre, come
let us worship and how doxvn ; let us kneel before the Lord our
Maker. And again, in Psal. xcvi. 1....0 sing unto the Lord a
new song : sing unto the Lord, all the earth. — But why ? — Ver.
4.. .For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised : Heis to he
feared above all gods. — But wherein does this appear ? — Why,
(ver. 5.) All the gods of the nations are idols ; but the Lord made
the heavens. And once more, in Psal. civ. 1, 2, he... .Bless the
Lord, 0 7uy soul. — But why L... Thou art very great : thou art
clothed with honor and majesty. — But how does this appear ? —
Wh)-, Thou hast stretched out the heavens as a curtain. And
ver. 5. ...And laid the foundations of the earth, that it cannot be
removed for ever. And ver. '27. ...All wait upon thee, that thou
viayest give them their meat in due stason. Ver. 28.... That thou
givest them, they gather : thou ope nest thy hand, they are filed
with good. — And throughout the whole Puulinhe is meditating

20 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

on the creation and preservation of the world ; and viewing the
divine perfections therein discovered, and admiring the divine
glory, and wondering and adoring ; and finally concludes with,
Bltss the Lord^ 0 my soul : Praise ye the Lord. But

3. His perfections are still much more eminently displayed in
that moral government which he maintains over the intelligent
part of the creation ; especially his moral perfections. In the
woi-ks of nature his natural perfections are to be seen : but, in
his moral government of the world, he acts out his heart, and
shews the temper of his mind : Indeed, all the perfections of
God are to be seen in the work of creation, if we view angels
and men, and consider what they were, as they came first out
of his hands — ^holy and pure : But still God's conduct towards
them, under the character of their King and Governor, more ev-
identi}^ discovers the very temper of his heart. As the tree is
known by the fruit, so God's moral perfections may be known
by his moral government of the world. The whole world was
created for a stage, on which a variety of scenes were to be open-
ed ; in and by all which, God designed to exhibit a most exact
image of himself : For, as God loves himself infinitely for be-
ing what he is, so he takes infinite delight in acting forth and ex-
pressing ail his heart. He loves to see his nature and image
shine in all his works, and to behold the whole world filled with
his glory ; and he perfectly loves to have his conduct, the whole
of it taken together, an exact resemblance of himself ; and in-
finitely abhors, in his public conduct, in the least to counteract
the temper of his heart ; so as, bv his public conduct, to seem
to be what indeed he is not : So that, in his moral government
of the world, we may see his inward disposition, and discern
the true nature of his moral perfections : And indeed all his
perfections are herein discovered ; particularly,

(1 .) His injiiiite understanding. High on his throne in heav-
en he sits, and all his vast dominions lie open to his view : His
all-seeing eye views all his courts above, and sees under the
whole heavens, looks through the earth, and pierces all the dark
caverns of hell ; so that his acquaintance with all worlds and all

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 21

things is absolutely perfect and complete : He can behold all
the solemn worship of heaven, and the inmost thoughts of all
that great assembly : he can behold all the sin, miser)' and con-
fusion that overspread the whole earth, and the inmost temper of
every mortal ; and look through hell, and see all the rebellion, and
blasphemy, and cunning devices of those infernal fiends ; — and
all this at one all-comprehending view: And thus, as high Gov-
ernor of the whole world, he continually beholds all things ;
whereby a foundation is laid for the exercise of all his other per-
fections in his government over all. See the omniscience of
God elegantly described in Psal. cxxxix. 1 — 12. And being
perfectly acquainted with himself, as well as with all his crea-
tures, he cannot but see what conduct from him towards them,
will, all things considered, be most right, and fit, and amiable,
and most becoming such an one as he is j and also what conduct
from them to him is his due ; and their duty. By his infinite
understanding, he is perfectly acquainted with right and wrong
— with what is fit, and what unfit : And, by the moral rectitude
of his nature, he infinitely loves the one and hates the other,
and is disposed to conduct accordingly ; — of which more pres-
ently. Psal. cxlvii. \.... Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing
praises unto our God ; for it is pleasant^ and praise is comely.
— But why ? — Ver. 5. ..Great is our Lord and of great power ;
HIS UNDERSTANDING IS INFINITE. — But wherein does that ap-
pear ? — ^Vhy, (ver. 4.) He telleth the number of the stars ; he
calleth them all by their names. Now, if the infinite under-
standing of God maybe seen in this one particular, much more
is it in the regular ordering and disposingof all things, through-
out the whole universe ; and that, not only in the natural^ but
also in the moral world.

(2) His infinite power is displayed in the government of the
world : For he does according to his pleasure in the armies of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; so that none
can stay his hand, or hinder the execution of his designs. Have
rebellions broken out in any part of his dominions ? — he has
manifestly had the rebels entirely in his hands : They have lain

22 TRUr. KKLIGION DILlNrATED, AND

absolutely at his mercy j and he has dealt with them according
to his sovereign pleasure ; and none has been able to make any
resistance ; nor has there been any to deliver them out of his
hands. When rebellion broke out in heaven, he crushed the
rebels in a moment : They fell beneath the weight of his hand
...they felt his power.. ..they despaired.. .they sunk to hell j and
tlf^re he resei-ves them in chains ; nor can they stir from their
dark abode, but by his special permission. And when rebel-
lion broke out upon earth, the rebels were equally in his hands,
and at his mercy, unable to make any resistance ; although he
was pleased, in his infinite wisdom, to take another method with
them : But he has since discovered his power, in treading
down his implacable enemies, under foot, many a time : He
destroyed the old world, burned Sodom., drowned Pharaoh and
his hosts, and turned Nebuchadnezzar into a beast. If his en-
emies have exalted themselves, yet he has been above them —
brought them down ; and discovered to all the world that they
are in his hands, and without strength, at his disposal : Or if he
has suffered them to go on and prosper, and exalt themselves
gi'eatly, yet still he has been above them, and has accomplished
his designs by them, and at last has brought them down. —
Haughty Nelmchadiiezzar^ when he had broken the nations to
pieces, as if he had been the hammer of the whole earth, now
thought himseM somebodi/ ; and Alexander the Great, when con-
quering the world, aspired to be thought the son of Jupiter :
But the most high God, the great and almighty Governor of
the world, always had such scourges of mankind only as a rod in
his hand, with which he has executed judgment upon a wicked
world. Hoxvbeit, they meant not so., neither did their hearts think
so : But it was in their hearts to gratify their ambition, avarice,
and revenge. However, he was above them ; and always such
have been, in his hands, as the ax is in the hands of him that
hexueth therewith^ or as the saw is in the hands of him that shaketh
it ; or as the rod is in the hand of him that lifteth it vp. And
when he has done with the rod, he always breaks it and burns it :
See Isaiah x. 5 — 19.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 23

And as this ^eat King has discovered his ahnighty power^
by crushing rebellions in his kingdom, and subduing rebels, so
he has, also, in protecting his friends, and working deliverance
for his people : He made a path for his people through the sea ;
he led them through the wilderness : He gave them water to
drink out of the rock ; and fed them with angels' food : In the
day time he led them by a cloud, and all the night with the light
of fire : He brought them to the promised land, and drove out
the heathen before them ; and, in all their distresses, whenever
they cried unto him, he delivered them : And as the supreme
Governor of the world, in the days of old, did thus discover his
almighty power in governing among his intelligent creatures,
so he is still, in various ways and manners, in his providential
dispensations, evidently discovering that he can do all things :
And his people see it and believe it ; and admire and adore : —
Read Psal. cv.

(3.) Again, His injinite -wisdom is discovered in an endless
variety of instances — in all his government thi-oughout all his
dominions — in his managing all things to the glory of his Ma-
jesty....to the good of his loyal subjects, and to the confusion
of his foes. There has never any thing happened in all his do-
minions, and never willj but has been, and shall be made entire-
ly subservient to his honor and glory : Even the contempt cast
upon him by his rebellious subjects, he turns to his greater glo-
ry ; as in the case of P/Varac?/2, who set up himself against God,
and said. Who is the Lord^ that I should obcij him 7 1 know not
the Lord, nor rvill I let Israel go » And. he exalted himself, and
dealt proudly and haughtily ; and hardened his heart, and was
resolved he would not regax'd God, nor be bowed nor conquer-
ed bj' him ; for he despised him in his heart: But the more he
carried himself, as if there were no God, the more were tlie be-
ing and perfections of God made manifest ; for the more he
hardened his heart — the more stout and stubborn he was, the
more God honored himsjif in subduing him : Yea, God, in his
infinite wisdom, suffered him to be as high and haughtv — as

»tout and stubborn as he pleased ; he took ofTall restraints from

E

tl4- TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

him — ^peraiitted the magicians to imitate the miracles oi Mo-
sesy so that Pharaoh.^ in seeing, might not see, nor be convinced ;
anil he ordered that the plagues should hist but for a short sea-
son, that Pharaoh might have respite ; and thus it was that God
hardened his heart : And God, in his infinite wisdom, did all
this with a view to his own glory ; as he tells Pharaoh by the
hand of JNIoses — "^ Such and such plagues I design to bring up-
on you, and to do so, and so, with you." And^ indeed^for this
cause have I raised thee iip^for to shew in thee my power ^ and
that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.. .^xod. ix.
16 : And, accordingh', God was illustriously honored, at last,
upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, at the Red Sea ; and the
Egyptians^ and all the neighboring nations, were made to know
that he was the Lord ; and his name became dreadful among
the heathen : And we find that, in three or four hundred years
after, the Philistines had not forgotten it ; for, when the ark^ in
the days of £//, was carried into the camp of Israel^ the Philis-
tines were sore afraid, and said, " God is come into the camp :
Woe unto us : Who shall deliver us out of the hands of these
mighty Gods ? These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians
with all the plagues in the wilderness," &C....I Sam. iv.

So God wisely ordered and over-ruled all things, that befel
the children of Israel in the wilderness, to accomplish the ends
he had in view : His designs were to get himself a great name,
and fill the whole earth with his glory (Num. xiv. 21.) ; and to
try and hu!\ible his people, and make them know, that it was
not for their righteousness that he brought them into the land of
Canaan^ {Deut. ix.) And every thing that came to pass, for
those forty years, was admirably calculated to attain these ends.
The news of PharaolU^ overthrow — of God's coming down
upon Mount Sinai, in the presence of all Israel, and abiding
there so long a time, with such awful majesty ; and of the pil-
Jar of cloud by day, and of fire by night — of the manna — of the
water flowing out of a rock, and following them — of their mur-
murlngs and insiurections, and God's judgments upon them ; —
I say, the news of iliese, and ©iher things of this nature, that

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERTEITS. 25

happened to them for those forty j^ears, flew all the v/orld over,
and filled all the nations of the earth with the greatest astonish-
ment ; and made them think there was no God like the God of
/Araf/...(Numb. xiv. 13, 14, 15.) By all these things, and by
God's bringing his people, at last, to the possession of the land
of Canaan^ according to his promise, there was exhibited a spe-
cimen of God's infinite knowledge, power, wisdom, holiness, jus-
tice, goodness and truth ; and that before the eyes of all the na-
tions : And so the whole earth was filled with his glory ; i. e.
with the clear manifestations of those perfections in which his
glory consists. And thus his great end was obtained : And,
in the mean time, all the wanderings, and trials, and sins, and
sorrows of the childien oi hrael^ together with all the wonder-
ful works which their eyco beheld, and wherein God discover-
ed himself for those forty years, had a natural tendency to try
them, to humble them, and break their hearts ; and make them
know, that, not for their righteousness, nor for the uprightness
of their hearts, did God, at last, shew them that great mercy :
and to convince them of the exceeding gi-eat obligations they
were under to love, and fear, and serve the Lord forever. And
so, the other great end which God had in view was accomplish-
ed....Z)f?^/. viii. ix. 8c X. chap. — And nov/, all these things v/ere
by God Vvisely done ; and in this his conduct, his infinite wisdom
is to be seen.* — And thus it is in all God's dispensations,
throughout all his dominions, witii regard to the whole universe
in general, and to every intelligent creature in particular. His

* If God had so ordered that Ahrahatn had been born in the land of
Cuiuiun, an^l his postcrii-y had imiltipiied greaLiy, and the other nations,
gradually, by sicknesses and wars, had wasted away and come to nothing,
un'il there were none but the posterity ot" Abraham left, and they had
filled the land, God's hand then would not have been seen. ...none of these
txcellent ends attained. ...all would huve been res )lved into natural causes.
Therefore God contrived where Abraham should be born — how he should
leave liis own ountry — have v. promise of the land of Cavaau ; and ho-./
his s;cd should conic to be in E^ypt — come to be in )i;reat bonda^je and dis-
tress ; how he would send, and how he uould deliver them, r.tid how ihcy
should carry themselves, and what should happen ; and how every thinj
should turn out at last : he laid the v. h ile plan, with a view to those ex-
cellent ends his eye was ujion. It was wi^uly contrived, and, when it can.e
to be acted over, his iuiinitti wi!^dom \va:. discovered.

26 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

works are all done in wisdom ; and so his infinite v.-isdom is
discovered in all : And hence God appears infinitely glorious
in the eyes of his Tpeople....Deut. xxxii. 3, 4. — Fsal. civ. 24, &
cv. 1,45. — I Cor. \. 24; 31. '

(4.) Again, His infinite purity and holiness is also discover-
ed in his government of the world — in all that he has done to
establish right^ and discountenance tvrong^ throughout all his do-
minions. His creating angels and men in his own image, with
his law written on their hearts, manifested his disposition, and
showed what he was pleased with : But his public conduct, as
moral Governor of the world, has more evidently discovered
the very temper of his heart ; and shewn how he loves right
and hates wrongs to an infinite degree. Governors, among men,
discover much of their disposition, and show what they love
and what they hate, by their laws ; and they show how fervent
their love and hatred is, by all the methods they take to enforce
them ; and so does the great Governor of the world : By his
laws — by his promises and threatenings — by his past conduct,
and declared designs for the future, he manifests how he loves
moral good and hates moral evil.

By his infinite understanding, he is perfectly acquainted with
himself, and with all his intelligent creatures ; and so perfectly
knows what conduct in him towards them is right, fit and ami-
able, and such as becomes such a one as he is ; and also, perfectly
knows what conduct in his creatures towards him, and towards
each other, is fit and amiable, and so their duty. He sees what is
right, and infinitely loves it, because it is right : He sees what is
wrong, and infinitely hates it, because it is wrong ; and, in his
whole conduct, as Governor of the world, he appears to be just
what he is at heart — an infinite friend to right, and an infinite
enemy to wrong.

He takes state. ...sets up himself as a Gop....bicls all the world
adore him, love and obey him, with all their hearts — and that
upon pain of eternal damnation, in case of the least defect ; and
promises eternal life and glory, in case of perfect obedience.
This is the language of his law, Thou shalt love the Lord thy

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERI EIT8. 27

Godxvlth all thy hearty and thy neighbor as thyself : Do this,
and live ; disobey, and die. And now all that infinite esteerti
for himself, and infinite regard for his own honor, which he here-
in tnanifests, does not result from a proud or a selfish spirit ; for
there is no such thing in his nature : Nor does he threaten dam-
nation for sin, because it hurts him ; or promise eternal life to
obedience, because it does him any good : for he is infinitely
above us, and absolutely independent of us, and cannot recei^ c
advantage or disadvautge from us.... Job xxii. 2, 3. and xxxV. 6,
7. But it results from the infinite holiness of his nature. He
loves and honors himself as he does, because, since he is what
he is, it is right and fit he should : He bids the world adore
love and obey him with all their hearts, because, considering
what he is, and what they are, it is infinitely fit and right : He
commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, because this al-
so, in the nature of things, is right : And while he promises
eternal life to the obedient, and threatens eternal damnation to
the disobedient, he shows how infinitely he loves righte usness
and hates iniquity. His promising eternal life and glory to
perfect obedience, does indeed manifest the infinite goodness
and bountifulness of his nature ; but then his promising all, un-
der the notion of a rexvard^ discovers this temper of his heart
....his infinite love to right.

As to all his positive injunctions, they are evidently designed
to promote a conformity to the moral law. And as to the mor-
al law, it is originally founded upon the very reason and nature
of things. The duties required therein are required, original-
ly, because they are right in themselves ; And the sins forbid-
den, are forbidden, originally, because they are unfit and wrong
in themselves. The intrinsic fitness of the things required, and
the intrinsic unfitness of the things forbidden, was the original
ground, reason and foundation of his law. Thus, he bids all the
world love him with all their hearts, because he is the Lord their
God ; and love one another as brethren, because they are all
children of the same common father, having the same nature.
He requires this supreme love to himself, mid this mutual love

28 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND .

among his subjects, because it is right that so it should be ; and
because he perfectly loves that the thing that is right should be
done.. ..and not from any advantage that can possibly accrue vxnto
him from the behavior of his creatures. And he forbids the
contrary, because it is wrong, and therefore infinitely hateful in
his sight.. ..and not because it could be any disadvantage to
him. — All the glory and blessedness which he bestows upon the
angels in heaven, under the notion of a reward to their obedienccy
is not because their obedience does him any good ; for it does
not : nor because they deserve any thing from his hands ; for
they do not : (Rom. xi. 35, 36. J but merely because it is right
that they should, in all things, obey him : This is what he loves,
and what he delights to honor : And all the innnite, eternal
glories of heaven can but just serve as a sufficient testimony of
his approbation. — So, on the other hand, it vi^as not in a passion,
or from sudden, rash revenge, (which many times influences
sinful men to cruel and barbarous deeds), that he turned those
that sinned down to hell ; and, for their first offence, doomed
them to everlasting woe, without the least hope ; for there is no
such thing in his nature. As he is not capable of being injured,
as we are, so neither is he capable of such anger as we feel.
No : the thing they did was in itself infinitely wrong, and that
was the true and only cause of his infinite displeasure ; which
infinite displeasure he meant to declare and make known in the
sight of all worlds, throughout the endless ages of eternity, by
rendering to them according to their deserts : For \\c loves to
appear as great an enemy to sin, in his conduct, as he is in his
heart. He loves to act out his heart, and exhibit a true image
of himself. His infinite love of righteousness and hatred of in-
iquity, is also displayed in his promising eternal life and bless-
edness to Adam and to all his race, a whole world of beings, as a
rexvard to the obedience of iidara — by him constituted public
head and representative, on the one hand ; and threateningeter-
nal destruction to him and all his race, a whole v;orld of beings,
in case of the least transgression, on the other hand. But his
infinite love to righteousness, and hatred of iniquity, is manifest-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUKTERFEITS. 29

ed in the greatest perfection, in the death of Jesus Christ, his on-
ly begotten son : But of this more afterwards. — In a word, all
the blessings which he has granted to the godly in this world, as
rewards of their virtue. ...to Abel^ Enoch, and Noah... .10 Lot....
to Abraham^ Isaac a.nd Jacob^hc. and all the judgments which
he has executed upon the wicked.. ..his turning Adamovx of par-
adise...drowning the old world.. ..burning Sodom., &c. together
with all the evils which bcfel the children of Israel., in the wil-
derness— in the time of the judges — in the reigns of their kings
....and their long captivity in Babylon., &c. have all been public
testimonies that the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, and
hateth iniquity. — And, in heaven and in hell, he designs to dis-
play, to all eternity, in the most glorious and dreadful manner,
how infmit-ily he loves righteousness and hates iniquity.

Now when true bolicvers, who are divinely enlightened, med-
itate on and view the laws, the conduct, and tlie declared designs
of the great Governor of the world, they love, admire and adore,
and say. Holy., holy., holy.. Lord God of hosts., the -whole xuorld is
full of thy glory. This divine disposilion, to love righteous-
ness and hate iniquity, which the great Governor of the world
thus discovers in all his government, appears infinitely beautiful
and glorious, excellent, and amiable in their eyes : Whence they
are ready to say. Who is like unto thee., 0 Lord., amon^ the gods?
Who is like unto thee., glorious in holi7U'ss, &tc....As they do in
E.xod. XV. 11.*

* If \vc should suppose (as some do), that there is nothintj right or 'arorg
antecedent to a considcraLicn of the positive kUl and luii: ci God, the great
governor of the world ; and that light and vjro/ig result, originally, from his
sovereign luilt and absolute authority entiitly, ilien these ab^^urdiiies would
unavoidably follow :

1. That the moral perfections vf God are empty nair.es. T.itboi/t any signiji-
cotion at all. For if tliere be no intrinKic moral iiu.css and unfitness in
things, no right nor wrong, then there is no such thing as vioral beauty or
moral def'urmity ; and so, no foundation, in the nature of thir.gs, for any
moral propensity ,- i. e. there is nothing for Gcd to love or ha'e, considered
as a moral ager.t. There cr.n be no inclination or disposition in him to love
right and h.uc wrong, if there be no such thing as righi or wrong. So
tliat the only idea we could frame of God, would be iliat of an almighty, des-
potic sovereign, who makes his own w ill his oi.!;. rule, without any regard to
right or wrong, goodor evil, just or unjust. ...an idea of the inlinitely glorious
and ever-blessed God, evidently a^ contrary to tru.h as can be devised.

.,. 1 /3at,

30 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

(5.) His impartial justice is also discovered in his moral gov-
ernment of the world. He appears, in his public conduct, as
one infinitely engaged to give to every one his due, and as one
jtbsolutely governed by a spirit of the most perfectly disinterest-
ed impartiality : He appears as one infinitely engaged to main-
tain the rights of the Godhead, and to secure that glory to the
divine Being that is his proper due ; and that by the law which
he has established, in heaven and on earth, binding all to love,
worship and obey him, as God, upon pain of eternal damnation 3
And so, again, he appears as one infinitely engaged to secure all
his subjects here upon earth in a quiet and peaceable posses-
sion of their own proper rights; and that by strictly enjoin-

2. That, in the nature of things , there is 710 'inorc reason to love and obey God,
than there is to hate and disobey him : there being, in the nature of things, no
right nor wrong. Just as if God was not infinitely worthy of our highest
esteem and most perfect obedience ! andjust as if, in the nature of things,
there was no reason why we should love and obey hiin, but merely because he
is the greatest and strongest, and says we must .' than which nothing can
be more evidently absurd. But if these things are so, then it will fellow,

3. That there is no reason why he should require his creatures to love and obey
him, or forbid the contrary ; or ivhy he should reward the one, or punish the
other : there being, in the nature of things, no right nor wrong : and so the
foXnidation of God's lav/ and government is overturned, and all religion
torn up by the roots ; and nothing is left but arbitrary tyranny and servile
subjection....all expressly contrary to Gen. xviii. 25 — Heb. i. 9 — Eph.v\.l
— Roiyi.xW.l — i?eD.iv.ll — Rom. vii.l2 — i?07?i. ii. 4, 5, 6 — Rev. xix. 1, 6
— Ezeh. xviii. 25.

Or again, if we should suppose (as others do), that there is nothing right
or 'arong, antecedent to a consideration of the general good of the whole
systeiTi of intelligent created beings ; and that right and ivrong result, ori-
ginally and entirely, from the natural tendency of things to promote, or
hinder the general good of the whole : then, also, these manifest absurdities
will unavoidably follow :

1. That the moral perfections of God entirely consist in, or result froon a dis-
position to love his creatures supreviely, and seek their happiness as his only end .•
just as if it became the inost high to make a God of his creatures, and
himself their servant ! expressly contrary to Ro^ji. xi. 36 — Nximb. xiv—
Rev. iv. 11.

2. That God loves virtue and rewards it, merely because it tends to make his
creatures happy ; and hates vice and punishes it, 'inerely becai:se it tends to make
his creatures mi-ierable : just as if he had no regard to the rights of the
Godhead, nor cared how much contempt was cast upon the glorious ma-
jesty of Heaven ! expressly contrary to iJx'oi/. xxxii. — Nai7ib.xiv. — I Sa')n-
ii. 29, 30—11 Sam. xii. 10, U—Fsalvi li. 4.

3. That he requires us to love and obey him, onerely because it tends to inake
. us happy, andforbids the contrary onerely because it tends to make us nniserable ;

just as if he had no sense of clie infinite glory and excellency of his nature,
and our infinite obligations to love and obey him thence arising ! and just
as if he thought it no crime in us, to treat him with the greatest contempt !

and

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 31

ing every one to love his neighbor as himself, and always do
as he would be done by, and that upon pain of eternal damna- •
tion....G'fl/. iii. 10. — Dent, xxvii. 26. And he appears as one
governed by a spirit of the most perfectly disinterested impar-
tiality, in that he spared not the angels that sinned, who were
some of the noblest of all his creatures ; and in that he is deter-
mined not to sfxire impenitent sinners at the day of judgment,
tiiough they cry ever so earnestl}' for mercy ; but, above all, in
that he spared not his only begotten Son, whin he stood in the
room of sinners. If ever any poor, guilty wretch, round the
world, feels tempted to think that God is cruel for damning sin-
ners, and does not do as he would be done by, if he was in their
case, and they in his,let him come away to the cross of Christ, and

and just as if nothing could raise his resentment but merely the injury
done to ourselves ! expressly contrary to Numb. xiv. — II Sam. xii. 10, 14, &.c.

4. That Hve are under no obligations to love God, but merely becavse it tends
to mate us happy ; and that it is no crime to hate and blacpheme God, but
merely because it tends to make us miserable. But it' so, then the misery
which naturally results from hating and blaspheming God, is exactly equal
to the crime ; and therefore no positive inflicted punishment is deserved
in this world, or in that which is to come. And, therefore, all the punish-
ments which God intiicts upon sinners in this world, and forever in HeU^
are entirely undeserved : and so his law and government, instead of being
holy, just and good, are infinitely unreasonable, tyrannical and cruel. —
To say, that God punishes some of his sinful creatures, merely to keep
others in awe, whenas they do not, in the least, deserve any punishment, is to
suppose the great Governor of the world to doevil, that good may come ; and
yet, at the same time, to take the most direct course to render himself odi.jus
throughout all his dominions. It is impossible to accouj\t for the punish-'
ments which God has inflicted upon sinners in this world, and designs to
inflict upon them forever in hell, without sujiposing that there is anir.tniite
evil in sin, over and above what results from its natural tendency to make us
miserable : and that, therefore, we are under iufiiiite obligations to love and
obey God, antecedent to any consideration of its tendency tom.ake us happy.

From all which, it is evident, to demonstration, that rielit and wrong
do neither result from the mere will and law of God, nor from any tend-
ency of things to promote or hinder the happiness of God's creatures. It
remains, therefore, that there is an intrin-.ic moral fitness and unfitness,
absolutely in things themselves : as that we should love the inHnitely glorious
God, is, in the nature of things, infinitely fit and right ; and to hate and
blaspheme him, is, in the nature of tViings, infinitely unlit and v/rong :
and that, antecedent to any consideration of advantage or diiadvau-age,
reward or punishment, or even of tho will or lav.- of God. And hence it
is, that God infinitely loves right, and hates wrong, and appear.^ so liiiinite-
ly engaged to reward the one, and punish the other. And heiice, his la'.T
and government are holy, just and good... .they are glorious ; and in and
by them the infinite glory of the divine nature shines forth... /iiv. vl. .3.
— Rev. iv. 8 — Hcv. xix. 1 — 6.

02. TRUE R.ELIGIOK I)ELIK£ATED, ANB

seb God's own Son, his second self, there nailed up, naked,
bleeding, groaning, dying, in the greatest possible contempt, ig-
nominy and shame, before ten thousand insulting, blood-thirsty
spectators ; and lethim know that this Jesus is God — a person
of infinitely greater dignit)- and worth than all creature&in heav-
en and earth put together, and infinitely dear to the great Gov-
ernor of the v/oricl, even just as dear as his own self, and upon
whom he would not lay these sufferings any sooner than upon
himself; — I say, let him stand, and look, and gaze, and learn
that God does exactly as he would be done by, when he damns
sinners to all eternity, were he in their case, and they in his (if
I may.so say, when speaking of the most high God), since that
for his own Son, a person of infinite dignity, to suffer all these
things, is equivalent to the eternal torments of finite creatures :
Indeed, it was not because he was not a Being of infinite good-
ness, that he treated his own Son so ; nor is it because he has no
regard to his creatures' happiness, that he designs to damn the
finally impenitent ; but it is merely because sin is an infinite
evil, and, according to strict justice, worthy of an infinite pun-
ishment : It is right and fit that he should do as he does, and
therefore his conduct will forever appear infinitely glorious and
beautiful in the eyes ofall holy beings. Psalm xcvi, 11, 12, 13
....Let the heavens rejoice^ and let the earth be glad : Let the sea
roar^ and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joy fid^ and all
that is therein : Then shall all the trees of the xvood rejoice before
the Lor'd : For he cometh^ for he Cometh to judge the earth : He
shall judge the xvorld with righteousness^ and the people xvith his
truth. See also Rev. xix. 1 — 6.

(6.) His infinite goodness is also discovered in his government
of the world ; for all the laws of this great and good Governor
are suited in their own nature to advance all his subjects to the
highest perfection they are capable of. His law teaches us to
^ iew all th'mgs just as they are, and to have our will and affec-
tions entirely governed by the truth — by tlie very reason and na-
ture of things : And so to be according to the measure of such
finite creaturt-s, in our wills and in the temper of our minds, after

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEns. SS

the image of the blessed and glorious God, M-hich is the highest
dignity and perfection we are possibly capable of. When CTod
commands us to be holy as he is holy, he enjoins that as our duty
which at the same time is our highest possible privilege. He
bids us be like the angels, and begin our heaven upon earth ;
yea, even to participate of a glor\" and blessedness of the same
nature with that which he himself enjoys : To behold his glo-
fy....to be ravished with his beauty. ...to esteem him supremely,
live to him entirely, and delight in him superlatively, and to be-
tome like him in our views of things, and in the temper of our
minds, is our highest dignity, glory, and excellency, and our
highest blessedness : And, besides, his laws arc still further cal-
culated to promote the welfare of his subjects, in that they are
suited to establish universal love, peace and harmony, through-
out al; his dominions. Love thy neighbor os thi/self, is one of
the fundamental laws of his kingdom ; And were his authority
duly regarded, and his laws obeyed, love, and peace and hai'mo-
nv, with all their happy and blessed effects, would reign through
all the earth, as they do in heaven ; and paradise would not be
confined to Eden, nor to heaven, but be all over the world.

And the wrath of this good Governor is only revealed against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, v. hich are the ru-
in and debasement of our nature, and the destruction of our
peace and happiness. He threatens damnation to his subjects,
to keep them from destroying themselves, as weil as to deter
them from affronting his Majesty. All the dreadful thrcaten-
ings of his law result not only from his holiness and justice, but
also from the infinite goodness of his nature ; in that hereby Ivis
subjects are mercifully forwamed of the e\il and bitter conse-
quences of sin, to the end they may avoid it. He is a perfect
enemy to hatred and revenge — to ci-uelty and injustice : He
cannot bear to see the v/idow or fatherless oppressed, or the
poor despised, or the miserable insulted, or any evil thing done
among his subjects : And therefore this good Govenior has
threatened tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath,
against ever soul Uiat doth evil ; aud, with all hh authority.

34 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

has commanded his subjects, through all this world, upon pain
of eternal damnation, to do as they would be done by.

And then, still further to engage his subjects to that in which
their greatest glory and blessedness consists, he, in his law,
promises eternal life to the obedient : wherein the infinite boun-
tifulness of his nature, as well as his unspeakable concern for
his creatures' welfare is discovered.

And if we survey his conduct towards mMikind, from the be-
ginning, we may, in ten thousand instances, see the infinite good-
ness of his nature displayed. If we consider what his ways
have been towards an apostate world — ^liow he has given his
Son to be a Redeemer, and his spirit to be a sanctiher — how he
has sent all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending ;
and that notwithstanding he knew beforehand what treatment he
would meet with from a guilty, ungrateful, God-hating world
—how they would murder his Son, resist his spirit, and kill his
messengers : if we consider how patient, and forbearing, and
long-suffering he has been towards obstinate sinners — how loth
to give them over ; swearing by himself that he delights not in
their death, but rather that they turn and live ; even while they
have contemned and affronted him in the vilest manner : and if
we consider his distinguishing favors towai'ds his elect, and the
marvellous things which he has wrought for his church and peo-
ple ; — I say, if we consider these things, and, at the same time,
look round the world and behold the innumerable common fa-
vors strewed abroad among guilty, hell-deserving rebels, we
must be forced to own, that he is good to all, and that his ten-
der mercies are over all his works.

His goodness, indeed, is evidently as unbounded as his power.
There is no act of kindness, which his omnipotency is able to do,
but that there is goodness enough in his heart to prompt him to do
it, if, all things considered, it is best to be done : His propensi-
ty to do good is full)' equal to his abilitj% All the treasvires
and good things of this lower world are his, and he gives all to
the children of men ; and we should have enjoyed all, without
the least sorrow intermixed, had not our sin and apostacy made

i)ISTIN>CUlSHEiP rROJVI. ALL CQUI^TSRFEITS. 55

it necessary for him, to give some testimony of his displeasure ;
and yet, even the calamities of life are well adapted, in our pres-
ent state, to do us good. All the treasures and glories of heav-
en are his, and he offers all to a guilty world, and actually gives
all to such as are willing to accept of all, through the mediator^
in the way prescribed — and what can he give more ? Can he
^ive his only begotten son to die for sinners ? Behold, he has
a heart to do it ! Can he give his holy spirit to recover poor
sinners toGod ? Behold, he has a heart to do it.. ..is as ready
to give his hoi}- spirit to them that ask, as parents are to give
bread to dieir children ! And,iinally, can he, in any sense, give
himself to his creatures ? Behpld, he is willing to do so.. ..to be
.their God, and father, and portion, and be all things to them,
and do all things for them, if they will but accept of him through
Jesus Christ ! So that, as I said, his propensity to do good is
fully equal to his ability : And there is no doubt but that he
does show all those kindnesses to his intelligent creatures,
which, all things considered, are best should be shown. And
his understanding is infmite, whereby he is able to determine
exactly what is best in the whole. Thy mercy^ 0 Lord^ is in
the heavens ; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds : How
excellent is thy loving kindness, 0 God ! Therefore the children
of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. ...V&^^xa.
.xxxvi. 5, 7.

And such is the goodness of his nature, and so much good-
ness has he in his heart, that he needs no motive to excite him to
do good ; /. e. nothing from without : Thus, unmoved and un-
excited by any thing from without himself, of his own mere
goodness, he did, in the days of eternity, determine to do all
that good, which ever will by him be done, to all eternity, when
there was nothing existing but himself, and so nothing to move
him but his own good pleasure : Yea, such is the goodness of
his nature, that he not only needs no motive irom without to
excite him to do good, but even then, when there are all things to
the contrary — even every thing in his creatures to render them
ill-deserving, and to discourage and hinder his shewing mercy,

36 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND ^

and to provoke him to wrath — even then, when 'discourage-
ments are infinitely great, and provocations are innumerable ;
yea, when there is nothing in his creature hut what is of the na-
ture of a provocation — even, in such a case, he can show; mer-
cy ; yea, the greatest of mercies. He can give his son t<5 die
for such, and his holy spirit to sanctify them, and himself at last to
be their God and father, and everlasting portion : Such is the in-
comparable goodness of his nature. Who is a God like unto
thee ! hc....Mic. vii. 18, 19. — But then he is atliberty,in such
cases, and may act according to his own discretion, and have
mercy on whom he will have mercy, and have compassion on
whom he will have compassion ; and, truly, it is infinitely fit he
should. To act sovereignly, in such cases, is infinitely becom-
ing ; and, indeed, it is fit he should dispense all his favors ac-
cording to his sovereign pleasure : It is fit he should do what
he will with his own. He knows best how to exerdse Ms owrt
goodness, and it is perfectly fit that he should be at liberty, and
act accbrding to his own discretion. ...according to the counsel
of his own will. And because it is infinitely fit, therefore he ac-
tually does so....Eph. i. 11. He passed by the angels that sin-
ned, and pitied sinful men ; he passed by the rest of the world,
and chose the seed of Abraham ; he suffers thousands of sin-
ners to go on in their sins and perish, and, in the mean time,
seizes here and there one by his all-conquering grace, and effec-
tually saves them ; and all according to his sovereign pleasure,
because it seems good in his sight so to do. And the reason
why he acts sovereignly, is because, in the nature of things, it is
fit he should ; therefore, his sovereignty is a holy and a glorious
sovereignty. Hence, when Moses desired to see his glory ^ he
discovered this nntohxm... .Exod. xxxiii. 12. And because our
Savior saw how fit and becoming it was for God to act as a
sovereign, in bestowing his favors, therefore he saw a glory in
his sovereignty, and so rejoiced in it.... Mat. xi. 25,26. And
sovereign grace is glorious grace in the eyes of every one who
views things aright, and has aright frame of heart. Consid-
ering that all God has is his otyn....that he knows infinitely the

DISTINQUMHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 37

best what to do with what he has.. ..th?it there can be no moti'ct
from without to excite him to act, it is infinitely fit he should be
left to himself, to act according to his own discretion ; and it is
infinite impudence for a worm of the dust to intermeddle or go
about to direct the almighty and infinitely wise God ; and it is
infinite wickedness to dislike his conduct, and find fault with
his dispensations.

Indeed, if there was nothing of greater worth and importance
than the happiness of his creatures and subjects, and so nothing
that he ought to ha\x a greater regard to and concern for, there
it is not to be supposed that any of his creatures and subjects
would be finally miserable. The infinitely good Governor of
tlie world has a great regard to the happiness of his subjects :
their welfare is very dear to him, and their misery, in itself, or
for its own sake, very undesirable in his sight ; yet he has so
much greater regard to something else, that, in some instances,
he actually does suffer sinners to go on in their sins and perish
forever ; yea, he will inflict the eternal torments of hell upon
them. The goodness of God is a holy, wise and rational good-
ness, and not an unreasonable fondness : He will never do a
wrong thing, to oblige any of his creatures : no, he had rather
the whole world should be damned ; yea, that even his own Son
should die : Nor will he ever communicate good to any one,
when, all things considered, it is not best and wisest. When
he first designed to create the world, and first laid out his whole
scheme of governi"qent, as it was easy for him to have determin-
ed, that neither angels nor men should ever sin, and that misery
should never be heard of in all his dominions, so he could ea-
sily have prevented both sin and misery. Why did he not ? —
Surely, not for want of goodness in his nature ; for that is infi-
nite : — not from any thing like cruelty ; for there is no such thing
in him : — not for want of a suitable regard to the happiness of
his creatures ; for that he always has : But it was because, in
his infinite wisdom,he did not think it best in the v.'hole. It was
not because he had not sufficient power to preserve angels and
Mien all holy and happy ; for it is certain he had : — it was not be-

38. TRUE' REHOI^N DELINEATED, AiHb

cause preventing grace- viroiikl have been inconsistent with their
being free agents j for it -would not : — it was not because he did
not thoroughly consider and weigh the thing with all its conse-
quences ; for it is certain he did : But, upon the whole, all
things considered, he judged it best to permit the angels to sin
and man to fall ; and so let misery *nter into his dominions.
It did not come to pass accidentally and unawares, and contrary
to what God had ever thought of or intended ; because it is cer-
tain that he knew all things from the beginning ; and it is certain
that, in an affair of such a nature, and of such consequence, he
could not staiid by as an idle, unconcerned spectator, that cares
not which way things go. There is no doubt, therefore, but
that, all thing^ considered, he thought it best to permit things to
come to- passjust as they did : And, if he thought it best, it was
best ;■ for his understanding is infinite — his wisdom unerring,
and so he ^annes'er be mistaken. But why was it best ? What
could he have in view preferable to the happiness of his crea-
tures ? And if their happiness v/as to him above all things most
dear, how could he bear the thoughts of their ever, any of them,
being miserable ? — Why, it is certain he thought it best ; and
therefore it is certain he had a view to something else besides
merely the happiness of his creatures — to something of greater
importance, and more worthy to bear a governing sway in his
mind, by which it became him to be above all things influenced,
in laying out and contriving how things should proceed and be
disposed in the world he designed to create.

But what was that thing which was of greater worth and im-
portance, and so more worthy to bear a governing sway in his
mind, and to which he had the greatest regard, making all oth-
er things give way to this ? What was his^ra;? J en^ in creating
and governing the world ? W^hy, look. ...what end he is at last
like to obtain, when the whole scheme is finished, and the day
of judgment past, and heaven and hell filled with all their pro-
per inhabitants : And what will be the final result ? What will
he get by all ? Why, in all, he will exert and display every one
of his perfections to the life, and so, by all, will exhibit a most

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 39

perfect and exact image of himself. And how, as he is infinite-
ly glorious in being what he is, therefore that scheme of conduct
which is perfectly suited to exhibit the most lively and exact
image of him, must be infinitely glorious too : And, therefore,
this is the greatest and best thing he can aim at in all his works ;
and this, therefore, ought to be his last end. Now, it is evi-
dent that the fall of the angels and of man, together with all
those things which have and will come to pass in consequence
thereof, and occasioned tliereby, from the beginning of the world
to the day of judgment, and throughout eternity, will sej;ve to
give a much more lively and perfect representation of God, than
could possibly have been exhibited, had there never been any
sin or misery. The holiness and justice — the goodness, mercy,
and grace of God shine much more brightly : They have been
displayed with an astonishing lustre and glory in the death of
Christ, and will be displayed forever in heaven and in hell, as
they could not have been, had not ^in and misery ever been per-
mitted to enter into God's world : Indeed, if, in the natui"e of
things, it had been wrong for Go^ to have permitted any of his
creatures to sin, and then to punish them for it — if God had
been bound in duty, or in goodness, to keep them from sin, or
to save them when they had sinned, then the case had been oth-
erwise : But since, in the nature of things, it was fit he should
be at liberty, and act according to his own discretion ; and since
the end he had in view was so noble and godlike, his conduct
in this affair was infinitely right, fit and becoming, and so infi-
nitely glorious. Certainly God thought it was so, or he would
not have done as he did ; and therefore, if we view things as
God did, and have a temper and frame of heart like unto his,
we shall think so too : And, as I said before, it is homd pride
and impudence for us to pretend to know better than the infinite-
ly wise God, and infinite wickedness for us to pretend to find
fault with his conduct.... i?o;/7. ix. 19 — 23.* Thus, if he had

• Onj....But surely it could not be consistent with the divine goodness,
from all eternity, to decree the everlasting misery of his creatures.

Axs.

G

40 tRU£ RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

aimed merely -at the happiness of his creatures, he could easily
have so ordered that Pharaoh should willingly have let Israel
go, and he could have led Israel in less than forty days to the
promised land, and put them into an immediate possession ;
but there was something else which he had a greater regard to ;
and therefore Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and all his won-
ders are wrought in the land of Egypt. The tribes of Israel
march to the borders of the Red-Sea..., the sea parts.. ..Israel
goes through, but the Egyptians are drowned. And now Is-
rael i^ tempted and tried, and they sin and rebel, and so are
doomed to wander forty years in the wilderness, and to have
their carcases fall there. And why was all this ? Why, because
his design was to display all his perfections, and fill the whole
earth with his glory. ..£.\W. ix. 16 — Nwnb. xiv. 2U And now,
because it is the most noble thing that God can have in view,
to act forth all his perfections to the life, and so exhibit the most
exact representation of himself in his works ; therefore, it is in-
finitely fit he should make this his last end, and all other things
subservient ; and his conduct in so doing is infinitely beauti-
ful and glorious. Thus we see how the goodness of'God isdis-
plaj-ed in his government of the world, and see that it is an un-
bounded, rich, free goodness ; and that all the exercises of it
are sovereign, and under the direction of his infinite vi^isdom :
so that God is infinitely glorious on the account of this perfec-
tion of his nature.. ..Z,",vc<^. xxxiii. 19. h xxxiv. 5, 6, 7. — jRom.
ix—Eph. i. 1—12.

(7) His unchangeable truth and faithfulness are also disco^'-
cred in his government of the world ; and that in the fulfilment
of his promises, and the execution of his threatenings. Did he

Axs....God has in fact permitted sin to enter into the woi-ld — does in
fact permit many to die in their sins — will in fact pimish them forever ;
and all consistent with the infinite goodness of his nature, as every one
must acknowledge. And since it is consistent with his goodness to do as
he doe^, it was consistent with his goodness, to determine with himself be-
forehand to do so .-...What God, from eternity, decreed to do, that God, in
titue, will do : therefore, if a/l God's conduct be holy, just and good, so
also arc all his decrea- ,- unless we can 6uj)pose it to be wrong for the infi-
nitely wise God, from all eternity, to determine upon a conauct in all res-
pects r/4/jt •• tban which nothing can be more absurd.

DISTINGUISHED iROM ALL COUN i ERl tITS. 41

promise to be Abraham's God ? So hfi was. Did he promise
to give the land of Canaan to his seed for an inheritance ? So
he did. Did he promise to send his Son into the world, and to
set him up a kingdom upon earth ? Even so he has done : And
he is in like manner true and faithful to all his promises, which
he has made to his people. And did he threaten to drown the
old world... .to make Israel wander forty years in the wilder-
ness....to deliver them into the hands of their enemies, at what
time soever they shoiUd forsake hjnti, and go and serve other
gods, and, fmully, to send them captives into Babylon for sev-
enty years ? Even so he has done. God's word may always
be depended upon ; for what he designs, that he says ; and what
Ke says, that he will do. And this is another of the glorious
perfections of his nature.

Thus all the perfections of God, are discovered in his gov-
ernment of the world. By his conduct we may see what he is,
and learn the very temper of his heart. And now, I might go
through his other works. ...his redeeming, justifying, sanctify-
ing sinners,.and bringing them to eternal glor)' at last,andshew
how his glorious perfections shine forth in them. But I have
already hinted at some of these things, and shall have occasion
afterwards to view the divine perfections shining forth in these
works of God, when I come to consider the nature of the gos-
peL Sufficient has been said to answer my present purpose ;
and,thcrcfore,for brexity's sake, I will proceed no furdier here.
Thus, then, we see how tlie perfections of God are manifested
in his tvorks.

Secondly. The same representation is made of God in his
word: For these great works of God. ...his creating, preserv-
ing and governing the world. ...his redeeming, sanctifying and
saving simiers, are the suijject-matter of all the Bible. God, in
his works, acts out his perfections, and, in his word, lays th;;
whole before our eves in v/riiing. Therein he has told us what
he has done, and what he intends to do ; and so has delineated
his glorious perfections in tiie plainest manner. In his -icord^
God has revealed himself ho the cb.ildren of men. ...has manliest-

42 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND >■

ed and shewn what he is. But how ? Why, by declaring and
holding forth his works, as that in which he has exhibited the
image of himself. Thus, the scriptures begin with an accovmt
of God's creating the world, and goes on throughout all the Old
Testament, informing how he preserves and governs it : Andj
then, in the New Testament, we are informed more particularly
how he redeems, justifies, sanctifies, and saves sinners. And
now, as the actions of a man discover the temper and disposi*
tion of his heart, and shew what he is, so the works of God,
from first to last, all taken together, hold forth an exact repre-
sentation of himself. If we will begin with God's creating the
world, and survey all his conduct in the li^ht of scripture.... his
conduct towards man before the fall, and after the fall.. ..his con-
duct towards Abel and Cain, Enoch and Noah, and all the old
world.. ..his conduct towards Lot and Sodom — towards Abra-
ham, Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph — towards the children of Is-
rael, in Egypt, at the Red-Sea, in the wilderness, at Sinai, at
Massah, at Taberah, &c....and in the times of Joshua, of their
Judges, of their Kings, &c. and then come into the New
Testament, and survey his conduct with relation to the redemp-
tion and salvation of sinners, and then look forward to the great
judgment-day, and see his whole scheme finished.. ..see the re-
sult, the conclusion and end of all ; look up to heaven and take
a view of that woi-ld, and look down to hell and survey the state
of things there ; from the whole we may see what God is : for,
in the whole, God exerts his nature, and, by the whole, God de-
signs to exhibit an exact representation oi himself . And, then,
are our apprehensions of God rights and according to truthy
when we take in that very representation which be has made of
himself : And now to account him infinitely glorious in being
what he is, and to love him ivith all our hearts., because he is
what he is, is the very thing which the law of God requires.

And, indeed, so plain is that representation which God has
made of himself, by his works and in his Vv^ord ; and he is really
so infinitely glorious in being what he is, that were not mankind,
through their exceeding great depravity, entirely void of a right

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 4i

taste and relish for true beautify they could not but be even raw
ished with the divine Being. They would naturally feel as they
do in heaven, and naturally speak their language, Hcli/y holy^
holy^ is the Lord of hosts ; the xvhole earth is ft ill of his glory !
..,.Jsai. vi. 3. But such is the vile temper of sinful, apostate
creatures, that they are not only blind to the moral excellency
of the divine nature, but are even in a stated, habitual contrari-
ety to God in the frame of their hta.ns....Ro7u. \\u. 7. And
hence, the manifestation which God has made of himself, can
fmd no place in their hearts.... J' o/m viii. ST. They cannot
attend to things of such a nature, ("verse 4/3. J because so disa-
greeable to their taste ; for f verse 47. J He that is of God, hear-
eth God''s luord ; ye^ therefore., hear them not^ because ye are not
of God. It is hard to bring unregenerate men so much as to
have right notions of v.hat God is, because he is a Being in his
nature so contrary and disagreeable to them. They do not like
to retain God in their knowledge. ...Rom. i. 28. Men had
rather that God was another kind of Being, different from what
he really is, and more like themselves — one that would suit their
temper, and serve their interest : and, therefore, they frame
such an one in their own fancy, and then fall down and worship
the false image which they have set up. From hence it is, that
all those false notions of God have taken their rise, which have
always filled the world. But were men brought to have right
notions of what God is, and to take in that very representation
which he has made of himself, bv his works and in his word ; vet
they would be so far from accounting him infinitely glorious in
being what he is, that they would see no form or comeliness in
him -wherefore they should desire hiin : but would feel the like
malignant spirit towards him as the Jews did towards their pro-
phets, and towards Christ and his aposdcs, only in a worse de-
gree. The same temper which caused the exercise of such en-
mity towards their prophets, and towards Christ and his apos-
tles, would have caused as great or gi'eatcr towards God him-
self, had they but had rigiit notions of him. And the clearer
apprehension a sinner has of God, the more will his enmity ex-

44 TRUE RELIGION DZLINEATED, AND

ert itself ; because a sinful nature and a holy nature are dia-
metrically opposite to each other : And, therefore, the clearest
external revelation of God cannot bring sinners to love him. —
All the world will see just what kind of Being he is at the day
of judgment, and that in a very plain and clear manner : But
yet they whose nature it is to hate him for being what he is, will
hate him still ; yea, hate him more than ever : And, therefore,
besides the external revelation which God has made of himself,
by his works and in his word, there is an absolute necessity that
he should internally reveal himself in his glory to the heart of a
sinner, in order to beget divine love there : Which brings me
to add.

Thirdly. God reveals his injinite glory in being xvliat he is in
the hearts ofsimiers^ by his holy SFiKir....Mat. xi. 25, 27. By
his works and in his word he has revealed ruhat he w, and that
in a manner sufficiently plain — even so plainly that there is no
need at all of any further objective revelation ; and he is really
injinitely glorious in being what he is : Now, therefore, if we
would rightly attend to that revelation which God has made of
himself, we could not but have right apprehensions of him; and
if we had a good taste for true beauty, we could not but be rav-
ished with his glory : but we are naturally disinclined to right
apprehensions of God, and are entirely destitute of a true taste
for moral beauty : And hence we may learn what kind of in-
ward illumination we stand in need of from the spirit of God.
We do not need the holy spirit to reveal any nexv truths concern-
ing God, not already revealed ; for the external revelation which
he has made of himself, is sujficiently full : — we do not need to
have tiie holy spirit immediately reveal all these truths con-
cerning God over again to us, by way oi objective revelation^ or
immediate inspiration ; because the external revelation already
made is sufficiently plain : We only need (l) to be effectually
awakened, to attend to those manifestations which he has made
of himself in his works and word, that we may see what he is :
And (2) to have a spiritual taste imparted to us, by the imme-
diate influence of the Holy Ghost, that we may have a sense of

DISTINGUISHED T¥.OTi ALL COUNTERFEITS. 45

his infinite glory in being such : For these two will lay an effec-
tual foundation in our hearts for that love which the law re-
quires. By the common inflences of the spirit, we may be awa-
kened to a realizing sight and senseof ry/jaf God is; and, by the
special and sanctifying influences of the spirit, we may receive a
sense of his infinite ghrij in being such : And also the sense of his
glorij will naturally cause us to see more clearly what God is :
for a sense of the moral excellency of the divine nature fixes our
thoughts on God ; and the more our thoughts are fixed, the
more distinctly we see what he is : And while we see him to be
what he is, and see his infinite glory in being s^lch, hereby a di-
vine love is naturally enkindled in our hearts. And thus. He
that commanded the light to shine out of darkness^ shines in our
hearts.^ and gives us the light of the knowledge of the glorij of
God : And so ive all^ with open face ^ behold^ as in a glass ^ the
glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same image^.. 11 Cor.
iii. 18. and iv. 6. A sight of the moral excellency of the di-
vine nature makes God appear infinitelv glorious in ever}' res-
pect. Those things in God, which before appeared exceeding
dreadful, now appear unspeakably glorious : His sovereignty ap-
pears glorious, because now we see he is fit to be a sovereign,
imd that it is fit and right he should do what he will with his
own : His justice appears glorious, because now we see the in-
finite evil of sin ; and a consideration of his infinite understand-
ing and almighty power enhances his glory : And while we view
what he is, and see his greatness and gloiy, and consider his
original, entire, underived right to all things, we begin to see
why he assumes the character of most high (iod, supreme Lord,
and sovereign Governor of the whole world ; and we resign the
throne to him, and take our places, and become his willing sub-
jects ; and our hearts are framed to love him, and fear him, and
trust in him through Jesus Christ ; and we give up ourselves
to him, to walk in all his v/ays and keep all his commands, sock-
ing his glory : And thus a sight and sense of the infinite digni-
ty, greatness, glor\' and excellencv oftlie most high God, lass
the first foundation for a divine love. God's being what ht is^i

46 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

is the primary reason that he reqmres us to love him with all our
hearts ; and it is the first motive of a genuine love.

I might now pass on to consider the additional obligations we
are under to love God ; but that it may be profitable to stop a
while, and a litde consider the nature and properties ofthis^r^i
and greatest and most fundamental obligation ; and take a view
of some iinportant consequences necessarily following therefrom.
•And here,

1. This obligation is binding antecedentli/ to any considera-)
tion of adva7itage or disadvantage — oirexvards or punishments ;
and even prior to any consideration of the positive xvill and law
of God himself. .

2. It is infinitely binding.

3. It is eternally binding.

4. It is unchangeably binding.

5. It is that from which all other obligations originally derive
their binding nature.

1 . This obligation which we are under, to love God with all
our hearts^ resulting from the infinite excellency of the divine
nature, is binding antecedently to any consideration of advantage
or disadvantage — of rewards or punishments^ or even of the pos-
itive xvill and laxv of God himself . To love God with all our
hearts naturally tends to make us happy ; and the contrary to
make us miserable ; and there are glorious rewards promised
on the one hand, and dreadful punishments threatened on the
other ; and God, as Governor of the world, has, with all his au-
thority, by his law, expressly required us to love him with all
our hearts, and forbidden the contrary ; and all these things are
binding ; but yet the infinite excellency of the divine nature
lays us under bonds prior to any consideration of these things:
So that if our interest did not at all lie at stake, and if there had
never been any express law in the case, yet it would be right,
and our indispensable duty, to love God with all our hearts.—
His being infinitely lovely in himself, makes it our duty to love
him ; for he is, in himself, worthy of our highest esteem : He
deserves it ; it is, in the nature of things, his due : and that an-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS, 47

tecedent to any selfish consideration, or any express law in the
case. To suppose the contrary, is to deny the infinite amiable*
ness of the divine nature, and to take away the very foundation
oi the law itself, and the very reason of all rewards and punish-
ments > For if our supreme love is not due to God, then he is
not infinitely lovely ; and if he does not deserve to be loved
with all our hearts, why does he require it ? And if, in tlie nai-
ture of things, it is not right and fit that we should love him,
and, the contrar}^, unfit and wrong, what grounds are there for
rewards or punishments ? So that it is evident, the infinite ex-
cellency of the divine nature binds us, and makes it our duty,
antecedent to any consideration of advantage or disadvantage,
rewards or punishments, or even of the positive will and law of
God, to love God with all our hearts ; and therefore oiu- love
must primarily take its rise from a sense of this infinite excel-
lency of the divine nature, as has been before observed ; and that
seeming love, which arises merely from selfish considerations,
from the fear of punishment or hope ofreward, or because the
law requires it, and so it is a duty and must be done, is not. gen-
uine ; but is a selfish, a mercenary, and a forced thing. How
evidently, therefore, do those discover their hypocrisy, who are
wont to talk after the following manner ; — " If I am elected, I
" shall be saved, let me do what I will ; and if I am not elect-
" ed, I shall be damned, let me do what I can : and therefore it
"is no matter how I live." And again after this sort...." If I
" knew certainly that God had made no promises to the duties
" of the unregenerate, as some pretend, I would never do any
" more in religion." Surely, they had as good say that, they
have no regard at all to the infinite excellency of the divine na-
ture, but are entirely influenced by selfish and mercenary mo»
lives in all they do : They do not seem to understand that they
^re under infinite obligations to love God with all their hearts,
and obey him in every Uiing, resulting from God's being what
he is, and that antecedent to all selfish co;isiderations j— rsiich
know not God.... I. 'John^ iii. 6.

H

4S TPIUE ri£LIGION UCLINEATED, AND

2. This obligation, resulting from the intrinsic excellency
and amiableness ef the divine nature, is infinitely binding; be-
Ciiusc this excellency and amiableness is in itself infinite. Our
obligation arises from his desert; but he infmitely deserves our
love, because he is infinitely lovely. When any person is love-
ly and honorable, reason teaches us that we ought to love and
honor him, and that it is wrong to dislike and despise him :
And the more lovely and honorable, the grealeris our obligation
to love and honor him ; and tlie more aggravatedly vile is it to
treat him with contempt. Since, therefore, God is a Being of
infinite dignity, greatness, glory and excellency, hence we are
under an infinite obligation to loveiiim with all our hearts ; and
it is infinitely wrong not to do so : Since he is infinitely worthy
to be honored and obeyed by us, therefore we are under an in-
finite obligation to honor and obev him j and that with all our
heart and soul, and mind and strength. Hence,

[1.] Perfect love and perfect obedience deserve no thanks at
his hands. If we perfectly love him, even with all our hearts,
and give up ourselves entirely and forever to him, to do his
will and seek his glory, and so cordially delight in him as to take
up our full and everlasting contentment in him ; yet, in all this,
vv^e do but our duty, and we do no more than what we are un-
der an infinite obligation to do ; and, therefore, we deserv^e no
thanks.. ..Luif xvii. 9, 10. — Yea, we do nothing but that in
which consists our highest perfection, glory, and blessedness ;
and, therefore, instead of deserving thanks, we ought to ac-
count it an exceeding great privilege that we may thus love the
Lord, live to him, and live upon \\\Ya....Psahn xix. 10.

When, therefore, eternal life was promised in the first cove-
nant as the retvurd of perfect obedience, it was not under the
notion of anv thing being ?nmW; nor did it ever enter into
the hearts of the angels in heaven to imagine they merited any
thing by ail their love and service ; for, from their very hearts,
they all join to say. Worthy art thou^ 0 Lord^ to receive glory ^
and honor ^ and praise forever. And they deserve no thanks for
their doin^ so, for they but own the very truth.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFIITS. 49

When, therefore, sinful men, poor, hcll<leser\'ing creatures,
think it much that they should love and ser\'e God so well, and
take so great pains in religion ; and are ready to think that God
and man ought highly to value them for their so doing, and are
always telling God and man how mighty good they arc ; as lie,
Luke xviii. 11, V2....God^ I thcmk t/wr^ I am not as other mcJi
are^ extortioners^ viijust, adulterers^ or even as- this puhlicaji ; —
no, far from this, I am one of the best men ux all the world — /
fast twice in the week,...I give ttjthes of aUthat I possess^ This
appeared to him such a mighty thing, that he thought it quite
worth while to tell God himself of it. Now, I say, when this
is men's temper, it is a sign they neither know God, nor love
him j for, if they did, they could not set so high a price upon
their duties, since he is so infinitely deserving : The plain truth
is, such have intolerable mean thoughts of God, and intolerable
high thoughts of themselves — ^they are brim-full of spiritual
pride and self-righteousness ; and such are exceedingly hateful
in the sight of God. They implicitly say that God is not iuli-
nitely glorious, and infinitely worthy of all love and honor — lie
does not deserve it.. .it is not his due ; but rather he is behold-
en to his creatures for it, and ought to render them many thanks
for their love and service. The language of their hearts is,
God has so little loveliness that it is muck to love him : Like a
bad mother-in-law, who thinks it nothing to toil for her own
children, because she loves them ; but grudges every rstep she
takes for the rest, and thinks every little a gre^st deal, because
she cares not for them : So, such men think it nothing to rise
early and sit up late, to get the world.... to get riches, honor
and pleasure ; for they love themselves : but think it much to
take the tenth part of the pains in religion ; because they love
not God. Their whole frame of mind casts infinite contempt
upon the giorious majesty of hea\cn, to whom all honor Is in-
finitely due, and in whose service all the hosts of heaven ac-
count themselves perfectly blessed : I'hey feel as if they de-
served to be paid for ail. ^

50 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AN©

True, there are glorious rewards promised in tlie law and
in the gospel : But why ? and upon what grounds ? A miin
may be said to be rewarded in three different senses. (1 .)
When he receives xvhat he strictly deserves^ as an hireling re-
ceives his -wages at night. But, in this sense, the angels in heav-
en are not capable of a reward : for, in strict justice, they de-
serve nothing.. ..Zzi«e xvii. 9, 10 — Rom. xi. 35. They are no
hirelings, for God has a natural, original, underived right to
them, as much as he has to the sun, moon and stars ; and
these, therefore, deserve to be paid for their shining, as much
as the angels do for their working. Besides, if the angels do
love God, it is no more than he infinitely deserves. And far-
ther, the services of angels do not profit God, and so lay him
under no obligations, any more than the birds profit the rising
sun by their moniing-songs, and so lay the sun under obliga-
tions to shine all day. Job xxii. 2, o,...Can a man be profitable
unto God., as he that is -wise may be projitable unto himself? Is
it any pleasure to the Almighty^ that thou art righteous ? or is
it gain to him^ that thcu makest thij xvaijs perfect ? And yet,
even in this gross sense, self-righteous persons feel, at heart, as
ifthey deserved a reward for their good duties} though per-
haps they are not willing to own it. Hence, they are so apt to
think it would be very hard, unjust and cruel, if God should
damn them for their past sins, notwithstanding all their good
dulie^. Isa, Iviii. S...JVherefore have xve fasted, say they^ and
thou seest not ? But, (2.) A man may be said to be rewarded,
when, although, in strict justice, he deserves nothing; yet he re"
ceives great favors at the hands of God., in testimony of the divine
approbation of his person and services : And thus, the angels
in heaven, though they deserve nothing, yet have eternal life
bestowed upon them, as a reward to their perfect obedience, in
testimony of the divine approbation. God rewards them, not
because they do him any good, nor because they deserve any
thing at his hands ; but because he infinitely loves righteousness^
and to appear as an infinite friend to this., in his public conduct,
as moral Governor of the world. The most that can be said

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 51

©f the holiest angel in heaven, is, that he is fit to be approved
in the sight of God, because he is perfectly such as God re-
quires him to be. And now, because God loves to put honor
upon virtue, and to exercise the infinite bountifulness of his
nature, therefore he gives them the reward of eternal life.
And thus God promises us eternal life, upon condition of per?-
feet obedience, in the first covenant : as if God had said, " If
" you will love mc wilh all your heart, and obey me in every
*• thing, as you are bound in duty to do ; then, although you will
" deserve nothing, yet, as becomes a holy and good God.. ..a
" kind and bouutiful Governor, I will make you everlastingly
*' blessed in the enjoyment of myself ; and that in testimony
*' of mv approbation of your perfect and steady fidelitx." And
so, bs' covenant and promise, this reward would have been duCy
had the condition been performed. Hence, that in Rom. iv. 4
*...Noxv to him that workcth^ is the rezuard not reckoned of grace,
but of DZhT. And now here self-righteous persons are wont
to come in with their works, and insist upon their right, and
plead the reason of things, as well as the promise. " If we do
*' (say they) as well as we can, which is all that God does or
" can in justice require of us, surely he will accept of us — it
" would be cruel to cast us oft' — his goodness and faithfulness are
*' engaged for us :" Just as if they had now made full amends
for all their past sins, by their repentance and reformation ; and
grown to be as good as angels, bv taking some little pains in
religion ! For the best angel in heaven does not pretend to any
other title to blessedness than this ; namely, that he has done
as well as he can, and that this is all that God has required, and
although he is an unprofitable sc-rvant, vet he depends upon the
promise, the goodness and faithfulness of his bountiful Creator.
Indeed, self-righteous persons may pretend to expect iUl for
Chris-t^s sake ; and say, that what they do, only entitles them
to an interest in him ; but it is all mere pretence ; for still they
think that God is bound to give them an interest in Christ and
eternal life, if they do a,? well as they can ; and would think
(iod dealt very hardly with them, if he did not : So that their

52 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

real dependance, at bottom, is upon their own goodness, their
own worth or worthiness, to make amends for past sins, and
recommend them to God, and entitle them to all things ; the
infinite absurdity of which will be evident presently. Again,
(3.) A man may be said to be rewarded, when he neither de-
serves any thing, nor is it fitting that his person and conduct,
considered mei'ely as they are in themselves^ should be approv-
ed ; but ought to be condemned, according to reason, and ac-
cording to God's righteous law, they being so sinfully defec-
tive ; nevertheless, such a man may be said to be rewarded,
when, 7}ierely on the account of his interest in the righteousness
Tkiid worthiness of Christ, his person and performances are
accepted, and peculiar favors shewn him. And in this way
are believers accepted, according to the covenant of grace, and
entitled to the reward of eternal life : Fhil. iii. 8, 9 — Eph. i. 6
—I Pet. ii. 5. Now, those who look for a reward mthis %vay^
will be so far from thinking it much, which they have done for
God, that they will forever set all down for nothing, and worse
than nothing,* their best duties being so sinfully defective ; and
judge themselves worthy of hell every day, and every moment:
And all their dependance will be on Christ's worthiness, and
the free grace of God through him : Luke xviii. 13 — Ro7n. iii.
24. And all that is said in the New Testament about God's
rewarding the believer's good works, being viewed in this light,
gives not the least countenance to a self-righteous spirit, but

* Worse than nothing. ...T^OT'E.. I do not mean, that an Imperfect, and very
defective conformity to the law is worse, and more odious in God's sight,
than no conformity at all ; but only, that there is more odlonsness than
amiablencss in such defective services : and that, therefore, we are, in the
siglit of God, on their account, more proper objects of hatred and punish-
ment, than of love and reward, if considered merely as in ourselves, with-
out any respect to our relation to Christ : so that, in point of recommend-
ing ourselves to God, we do, by our best duties, thus considered, rather dis-
commend ourselves in his sight. ...and, in this sense, they are worse than
nothing : they are even so far from paying our constant dues, that, in the
sight of God, thev constantly run us into debt. We are infinitely to blam«
in our best fra'nes and best duties, and have not any thing in thein, which
tends, in God's sight, in the least degree, to counterbalance our Ijlanie. —
E-ut if anv are desirous to see this point fully explained and proved, and
all objections answered, I refer them to Mr. £Jwu/J*'s excellent discourse
©n justification by faith alone.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERTEITS. 53

militates directly against it : And, indeed, if we were as per-
fect as the angels in heaven, it appears, from what has been
said, that we should deserve no thanks. It is impudent, there-
fore, and wicked — it is contemptuous — and, in a sort, blasphe-
mous, and most God-provoking, for a proud, conceited

Pharisee^ to feel as he does in his self-rigliteous frames

And God might expostulate with such an one in this man-
ner : " What, is there so litde lovelines in mc ? And is it so
•' great, to hard, so self-denying, to love me, that you tiiink it
♦'such ajnig/itif thing ! and expect now, that all past sins shall
** be forgiven, and my favor secured, for this good frame ! yea,
" and that I shall gi\ e you heaven into the barg-ain ? W^hat, arc
" your obligations to me so small, that I must be so much be-
''holdcn to you for your love ? What, did you never hear that I
" was the Lord ! and diat it was I that stretched abroad the heav-
" ens ! and that you are my clay, whom I formed and fashion-
"ed for myself? — Begone, thou impudent wretch, to hell, thy
*' proper place: thou art a despiser of my glorious majestv,
" and your frame of spirit savors of blasphemy : Know it, I am
" not so mean as you imagine, nor at ail beholden to you for
*' your love." And tiiis is one reason that the sacrifce of the
wicked is such an cihomination to the Lord ; not only when they
pray with a view to recommend themselves to their fellow-mtn,
but also when, in doing their best, they only design to ingratiate
themselves with God. Prov. xxi. 27., ..The sacrifice of the
xcickcd is abomiiuulon (even his very best) : hoxv im(ch more
xvhen he hringeth it with a wicked mind P The infmite great-
ness, glory and excellency of God, and the infinite obligation
thence resulting which we are under to love him with all our
hearts, and obey him in every thing, renders a self-righteous
spirit unspeakably odious, and infinitely provoking in the eyes
of a holy God. But this will appear still plainer under the next
particular. To proceed, therefore,

[2.] If we arc under an infinite obligation to love Ciod su-
premely, live to him ultimately, and take everlasting delight in
him, because of iiis infinite glory and excellency, then the /east

54 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

disposition to disesteem him... .to be inclifFerent about his inter-
est and honor, or to disrelish communion with him ; or the least
disposition to love ourselves more than God, and be more con-
cerned about our interest and honor than about his, and to be
pleased and delighted in die things of the M'orld, more than in
him, mu5?, consequently, be i7ijinitely sinful,* as is self-evident.

When, therefore, the great Governor of the world threatens
eternal damnation for the least sin, (as in Gal, iii. 10.) he does
the thing that is perfectly right ; for an infinite evil deserves
an infinite punishment.

Hence, also, it is no wonder that the holiest saint on eartli
mourns so bitterly, and loaths and abhors himself so exceeding-
ly for the remaining corruptions of his heart ; for, if the least dis-
position to depart from God and disrelish commtmion with him,
and to be careless about his honor and interest, is infinitely sin--
ful, then the best men that ever lived have infinite reason al-
ways to lie as in the dust, and have their hearts broken. Al-
though it be so with them, that all which the world calls good
and great, appears as dross to them ; and it is nothing to them,
to part with friends and estate, honor and ease, and all, for
Christ ; and although they have actually suifered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, not worth mourning about^
or repining after ; yet, notwithstanding all these attainments,
attended with the fullest assurance of eternal glory in the world
to come, the}' have infinite reason to do as tliey do.. ..to dislike
themselves. ...to hate themselves, and lie down in the dust a//m
fmri, because still there is such a remaining disposition in their
hearts to disesteem the Lord of glory.... to neglect his interest,
and depart from him ; and because they are so far from being
what they ought to be, notwithstanding the obligations lying up-

* The leasi: sin may be ;in Ir.Finitc evil, because of the infinite obligation
■we are under to do otherwise, and vet all sins not be equally heinous :
for there is as great a diiYerence among infinites, as among finites ; I mean,
among things that are infinite only in one respect : For instance, to be
for ever in hell is an infinite evil, in respect of the duration ; but yet th«
damned are not all equally miserable. Some may be an hundred times as
miserable as others, in degree ; although the misery of ail is equal in poiat
of duration.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 59

Qn.them are infinite. Oh ! this is infinitely vile and abomina-
ble, and they have reason indeed, therefore, always to loathe and
abhor themselves, and repent in dust and ashes ; yea, they are
infinitely to blame for not being more humble and penitent. —
A sight and sense of these things made Job lie down in the dust
and mourn so bitterly for his impatience under his past afflic-
tions, though he had been the most patient man in the world....

yob xlii. 5, 6. This made the psalmist call himself a beast

Psalm Ixxiii. 22. And hence, Paul called himself the chief of
sinnerSy and cried out, /aw caimal^ sold wider shi ; 0 wretched
man that lam I And hated to commend himself when the Co-
rinthians drove him to it, and seemed to blush at every sentence,
and, in a sort, recalled his words — lam not a whit behind the

very chief of the apostles, yet I am nothing / labored more

abundantly than they all^ yet not I. Such a sight of things kills
a self-righteous spirit at root, in the most exalted saint ; for he
has nothing (all things considered) to make a righteousness of,
but, in strict justice, merits eternal damnation every hour, and
does nothing to make the least amends.

For, if perfect obedience merits no thanks, as was before ob-
served ; and if the least sin is an infinite evil, and deserves an
infinite punishment, as we have now seen, then a whole eterni-
ty of perfect obedience would do just nothing towards making
the least amends for the smallest sin ; much less will the best
services of the highest saint on earth : And, consequently, when
Paul came to die, he deserved to be damned (considered mere-
ly as in himself), as much as when he was a bloody persecutor,
breathing out threatenings and slaughter ; yea, and a great deal
more too : for all his diligence and zeal in the service of Christ
did just nothing towards making the least amends for what was
past ; and his daily short-comings and sinful defects run h\\n
daily infinitely more and more into debt, which he did nothing
to counterbalance : And hence, Paul accounts himself to be
nothing (II Cor. xii. 11.), as well he might ; and all his attain-
ments to be, in a sense, not worth remembering (/"y^/V. ii*. 13.)

and looks upon himself the chief of sinners (I I'im.'u 15.), and

1

56 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

less than the least of ail saints {Eph. iii. 8.), and durst venture
his soul upon notliingbut mere free grace through JesusChrist....
Phil. iii. 8, 9, And thus it is with every behever, even the
most holy, although he daily sees what a God he has sinned
against — how he has sinned against him, and does, from a gra-
cious respect to God, mourn for sin, for all sin, as the greatest
evil, and sincei'ely turns from all to the Lord, and gives up him-
self to God, to love him and live to him forever ; yet he feels
that all this makes no arttcnds at all for his sins, but that he real-
ly deserves to be damned for them as much as ever ; yea, he
feels that he is infmitely blame-worthy for not being more hum-
ble and penitent and self-abhorring, and that his desert of
damnation is infinitely increasing continually : And hence, he
looks upon the grace that saves him as absolutely and divinely
free, and infinitely great ; and always derives all his hopes of
happiness from the free grace of God through Jesus Christ. —
And this is what the apostle means when he speaks of his living
by the faith of the son of God....G2\. ii. 2,0.... of his rejoicing in
Christ Jesus, and having 7io confidence in the fesh....V\vA. iii. 3.
And this was the cause of his so earnestly longing to h^ found
not in himself, but mChrist....not having on his own righteous-
7iess, but the righteousness xvhich is of Godbij faith. ...V\i\\. iii. 8, 9.
How directly contrary to all this is the temper of th€ blind, con-
ceited Pharisee, as expressed by Maimonides, the Jew, who
was professedly one of riiat sect ? " Every m.an," says he, " hath
*■'• his sins, and every man his merits : and he that hath more
*' merits than sins, is a just man ; but he that hath more sins
*' than merits, is a wicked man." And this is the way of such
men — they put their sins, as it were, into one scale, imd their
good duties into the other ; and when they fancy their goodness
outweighs their badness, then they look upon themselves in the
favor of God. But to return.

From what has been said, we may learn, that the more sensi-
hie any man is of the infinite glory and excellency of God, and
of his infinite obligations thence resulting to love God with all
his heart, and obe\ him in every thing, the dearer will he see

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 57

that perfect obedience deserves no thanks, and that the least
sin is an infinite evil and deserves an infinite punishment ; and
so he will renounce his own righteousness, die to himself, and
come down to nothing, more and more ; and so will bepropor-
tionably more and more sensible of his absolute need of Christ
and free gi-ace : And hence, the more holy a mai\ grows, the
more humble will he be. And, on the contrary, the 7)iore insen-
sible a man is of God^s infinite glory and excellency, and of his
obligations thence resulting, the more will he value his. duties,
and the less evil will he see in sin, and the less sensible will he
be of his ill desert, and of his need of Christ and free grace.-—
And hence, a self-righteous, impenitent, Christ-despising spir-
it reigns in all who knoru not God ; And thus we see some of the
consequences necessarily following from that infinite obligation
to love God with all our hearts which we are under, resulting
from the infinite glory and excellency of the divine natuie.: —
But to pass on,

3. This obligation we are under to love God with all our
hearts, arising irom his infinite glory and- excellency, is, in tlic
nature of tilings, eternally binding. God, his being, perfections,
and glory will be eternal : God will always be infinitely amia-
ble— always as amiable as he is now ; and there will be always,
therefore, the same reason that he should be loved, for being
what he is ; even the very same reason that there is now : This
obligation is therefore perpetually binding amidst all the clian-
gcs of this iifc. Whether we are sick or well, in prosperity or
in adversity ; whether we are raised to honor with David, or
live in affluence with Solomon ; or whether we are in prison
with Joseph, or on the dung-hill with Job, or wandering about
in sheep-skins and goat-skins, destitute, afflicted, tormented,
with those mentioned in the eleventh to the Hebrews^ still this
obligation upon us to love Ciod, is invariably the same : For C^od
is always infinitely amiable in himself; yea, and always will ha
so, whether we are in the earth, or in heaven, or in hell : And
therefore it always is, and always will be, our indispensibl^;
dutv to love him with all our hearts, let what will become of us..

58 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

and let our circumstances, as to happiness and miser}-, be what
they may.

Did our obhgations to love God arise merely from a consid-
eration oi sometking else besides the eternal excellency of the di-
vine nature — from something \thich might altogether cease in
time, then might it possibly, some time or other, ceow*? to be our
duty to love God with all our hearts : But assuredly it can
never cease^ until God ceases to be what he is. The infinite ob-
ligation hence arising will be eternally binding : Indeed, if all
our obligations to love God did arise merely from selfish con-
siderations, then, in hell, where these selfish considerations will
cease, it would cease to be a duty to love God. If I were obli-
ged to love God, only because he loves me — is kind to me, and
designs to make me happy, then, when he ceases to love me,
to be kind to me, and to intend my happiness, all my obliga-
tions to him would cease ; and it would be no sin not to love
him : But now, since our obligations to love God arise original-
ly from his being what he is in himself, antecedent to all selfish
considerations ; therefore it will forever remain our duty to
love him, let our circumstances, as to happiness or misery, be
what they will : And not to love him with all our hearts, will
forever be infinitely wrong. Hence the gmlt of the fallen an-
gels has been increasing ever since their first apostacy ; and the
guilt of all the damned will be increasing to all eternity ; and
no doubt their punishment will increase in the same propor-
tion. How inconceivably and infinitely dreadful, therefore,
will be their case, who are thus continually sinking deeper and
deeper in that bottomless pit of woe and misery ! And indeed,
if this be the case, hell may well be com.pared, as it is in scrip-
ture, to a bottomless pit.,.. Jitx. ix. 1. & xx. 1.

4. This obligation which we are under to love God with all
our hearts, resulting from the infinite excellency of the divine
nature, is also unchangeably binding. As unchangeable as the
divine nature is — as unalterable as the divine beauty is, even so
unchangeable, so unalterable, in the very nature of things, is
this our infinite obligation to love him supremely, live to him

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 59

ultimately, and delight in him superlatively. As God is infi-
nitely lovely in himself, and unchangeably so, so it is self-evi-
dent we are under an infinite and inviirial^lc obligation to love
him with all our hearts. This cannot but be always our duty.
So long as God remains what he is, this will remain our duty.
It will, in the nature of things, be unalterably right and fit to
love him ; and not to do so, unalterably unfit and wrong. Our
sinking down into ever so bad a temper, and getting to be ever
so remote from a disposition to love him, can no more free us
from the obligation, than it can cause him to cease being ami-
able. He must cease. to be amiable, before our obligation
thence arising can possibly cease to be binding. If there be
no alteration in his infinite beauty, there can possibly be no al-
teration in the infinite obligation thence arising. While God
remains what he is, and while our natural powers and faculties
are maintained in being, it must continue our duty to love God
with all our hearts, and it cannot but be our duty. In the na-
ture of things it is right ; and the obligation is just as incapable
of any alteration, as is the equality between twice two and four.
The fallen angels are of so bad a temper, that the very thoughts
of God will, doubtless, sooner than any thing, stir up all their
hatred : But God deserves to be perfectly loved by them, as
much as he did before- their apostacy. There is a great altera-
tion in the temper of their minds ; but not the least shadow of
change in the divine beauty. Their having contracted so bad
and wicked a temper, cannot surel\- make it right and lawful
for them to indulge it, and contiiuic in it. Their impious re-
volt surely cannot free them from tlic authority and government
of Almighty God, He deserves their homage and subjection,
as much as ever he did : The original gi-ound of all still re-
mains ; he is still the Lord. The same may be said of fallen
man — it is impossible that our bad temper should free us from
our obligation to love God with all our hearts. It is still, in
the nature of things, as wrong, not to love Ciod with all our
hearts, as ever it was, or as it would have been, had we not
joined with the fallen angels, and turned apostates. It must

60 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

be SO, unless otir being of so bad and wicked a temper n%akes it
right for us to continue of such a temper, and we not at all
blame-worthy for acting agreeably thereto ; that is, unless our
being so very bad and wicked, makes us not at all to blame for
our badness and wickedness : And so, according to this rule,
the viler any creature grows, and the more averse to God and
to all good, the less he is to blame ; which is one of the gros-
sest absurdities in the world. Therefore,

(1 .) The divine law which requires us to love God with cdl
our hearts, considered as a rule of duty ^ is, in the nature of things.^
unalterable^ and absolutely incapable of any abatement^ more or
less. The diing i"equired, is, in the nature of things, our duty,
antecedent to any consideration of an express law in the case
— as that children ought to honor their parents, and neighbors
do as they would be done by, are things in themselves right,
and duties antecedent to any consideration of an express law in
the case.... Eph. vi. 1. These things would have been duties,
if there had never been any laws made concerning them by
God or man : Yea, they are, in their own nature, so right, that
they cannot but be our duty j and to dishonor our parents, and
cheat, and defraud, and injure our neighbor, cannot but be
wrong : So, to love God with all our hearts is originally right
and fit, and our duty ; and would have been so, had there ne-
ver have been any positive, express law in the case.

Now the grand reason why God, the great Governor of the
world, ever made a law requiring us to love him with all our
hearts, was because it was thus, in its own nature, so infinitely
fit : And now to suppose that he would repeal, or alter, or abate
this law,when the grounds and reasons of his first making of it re-
main as forceable as ever — when the thing required is as right
and fit as ever — and when it becomes him, as Governor of the
world, still to require it as much as ever ; — I say, to suppose
such a thing, casts the highest reproach upon all his glorious
perfections : It casts the highest reflection upon his infinite ha-
litiess, whereby he is infinitely inclined to love right and hate
wrong ; for it supposes him to release his creatures from doing

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTKRTEITS. 61

right, and to allow them to do wrong... .a little at least : It casts
the highest reflection upon his impartial justice^ whereby he is
infinitely inclined to give every one his due -, for it supposes him
to release his creatures from giving unto God tlie glory which
is his due, and to allow them to keep back part at least : It casts
the highest reflection upon his atabilitij and truth ; for it suppo-
ses him to alter his law when there is no reason for it : yea, it
reflects even upon \\\s goodtitss itself ; for it is so far from be-
ing a benefit to his creatures to have this excellent law altered,
which is so completely suited to the perfection and happiness
of their nature, that it would be one of the gi'eatest and sorest
calamities which could happen. Like the altering all the good
laws and rules in a family, merely to humor and gratify a re-
bellious child, who will not be governed. Such a child should
be made to conform to the wholesome laws of the family, and
not the laws be abated and brought down to a level with his bad
temper and perverse humor : And, finally, it casts the highest
reflection upon the infinite ivisc/om of the great Governor of the
world ; for it supposes him to go counter to his own honor and
to the good of his creatures, to counteract all his perfections,
and contradict the reason and nature of things ; and that mere-
ly in condescension unto, and in compliance with the sinful,cor-
rupt taste and incUnations of an apostate, rebellious, God-ha-
ting world.

And now, Iiow could the great Govenior of the world clear
and vindicate the honor of his gi-eat name, in making any abate-
ments in this law, which requires us to love him with all our
hearts ? Would he say that he had before required more love than
zuus his due P Surely, nothing can be much more blasphemous
than to suppose this. ^\'ould he say that he does not dcacrveso
jnuch as he did, ? Still it is equally blasphemous to suppose tliis.
Would he say that/f*s- than is his due is all that is his due ?
But this would be to contradict himself in express terms. Or
would he openl)' profess to quit his right and freely alioxv his
creatures to despise him a little, and sin sometimes, in conde-
scension unto and compliance with die corrupt inclinations of

62 TRUL RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

their sinful hearts ? But this, in the nature of things, would be
infinitely wrong and dishonorable. Upon what grounds, then,
could the supreme Governor of the world go about to make
abatements in a law so holy, just and good, that only requires
us to love him with all our hearts, which, in the nature of things,
is so infinitely right and suitable ? Or upon what grounds can
we possibly desiie any abatements to be made, unless we even
profess that we do not like the law.... that we ai-e averse to lov-
ing God with all our he arts.... that it is a very tedious, self-de-f
nying thing to us, and what we can b}' no means freely come in-
to ; and so, upon this footing, desire some abatements ! Or,
which is the same thing, honestly own **• that we love sin so
*' dearly that God must tolerate us in it, or we cannot approve
*'of his government."

But, indeed, God can as easily cease to be, as go about to li-
cense and tolerate the least sin ; and he had rather Heaven and
earth should pass awaij^ than that the least jot or tittle of his law
shoiddJaiL...lSiIat. v. IS.

How can any body, therefore, once imagine that Christ came
down from heaven and died, to purchase this abatement of the
law of God, and procure this lawless liberty for his rebellious
subjects ? What ! did he desert his Father's interest and honor,
and the honor of his law and government, and spill his precious
blood, that he might persuade the great Governor of the world to
slacken the reins of government, and give out this impious li-
cense to iniquity ? — Surely to suppose this, is to make Christ a
friend to sin, and an enemy to God.

What, then, do they mean, who, in their prayers, presume to
thank God for the gracious abatements v/hich he has made in his
law ? And what do ministers mean by telling their people, from
the pulpit, that the law is abated, and that sincere obedience is
ALL that is now required of us ? — Indeed, if poor secure sin-
ners are made to believe that this was the great business Christ
came into the world upon, no wonder if their impious hearts
are pleased, and if they seem to love Christ, and prize the gos-
pel, and give thanks to God for this great goodness and conde-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 63

scension ; for hereby they are delivered from that strictness in
religion which they hate, and a wide door is opened for them
to sin without blame : Yea, they have the comfort to think that
it is no sin not to love God with all their heart, with oil their
soul, and with all their strength : And, generally, a verj' little
matter of religion, they think, will serve. And now it's good
times, and they bless themselves. But, alas ! They feed upon
the wind : A deceived heart hath turned them aside.

But, by the way, to what purpose was it for Christ to die
to purchase this abatement ? What need was there of it ? Or
what good could it do ? For, if the law really required too mvch^
the Governor of the world was obliged, injustice, to make some
abatements : And so, the death of Christ in the case was per-
fectly needless. And if the law required but just enough^ the
Governor of the world could not, in justice, make any abate-
ments : And so Christ must have died in vain^ and totally lost
his end.

But, indeed, Christ never came into the world upon this de-
sign ; as he expressly declares, in Mat. v. IT, 18.. ..Think not
that I come to destroy the lanv or the prophets : I am not come to
destroy^ but to fulfil. For verily I say imto you^ till heaven and
earth pass., one jot or one tittle sluill in 7io ivise pass froju the
larcy till all be fulfilled. And this is the very thing he con-
demns the Pharisees for, through all this chapter, that they, in
effect, taught this doctrine, that the law was abated : that they
taught, that although the law did forbid some external and
more gross acts of sin, yet it did not the first stirring of cornip-
tion at heart, and some lesser iniquities : For instance, that
" they must not commit murder ; but that it was no harm to be
" angry without cause, and speak reproachfully, and keep a se-
" crct grudge at heart.... (wr.sr 21 — 26.) That they must not
" commit adultery ; but that it was no harm to have secret las-
" civious thoughts.... (u£r>9f 27 — 30.) That they must not be
" guilty o{ perjury ; but that there was no harm in little petty
" oaths in common conversation.. ..(ycr^e 33 — 37.) That they
" must not luitt their friends ; but there was no harm in hating

64 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

*' their enemies ;" (verse 43 — 47.) These, and such like al-
lowances, tliey taught, were made in the law ; and so, that such
things were not sinful. But our Savior condenms their <ioe-
trine, as false and damning ; and insists upon it, that the law is
not abated, and never shall be ; but says, it still requires us to
he perfect y as our heavenly Father is perfect....(yerse 48.) and
declares, that if our righteousness exceedethnotthe righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees^ (who were so much for abating the
law) we shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven.. .{vex%e 20.)
^ofar was our blessed Savior fi-om any design to abate the ho-
ly law of God, or lessen our obligations to a perfect conformity
to it : And indeed, if Christ had died, and should die a thou-
sand times, to purchase an abatement of the law, (if it be law-
ful to make such a supposition) it would be to no purpose ;
for it cannot be abated, unless God ceases to be what he is :
For so long as God is infinitely lovely, we shall necessarilif be
under an infinite obligation to love him with all our heart, and
with all our strength ; and it will necessarily be infinitely
wrong not to do so. The truth is, that God's sending his
Son into the world to die for the redemption of sinnei-s, instead
of freeing us from our original natural obligations to keep the
law, binds us more strongly so to do ; as wq shall afterwards
see. Psalm cxix. 160..« Thy word is truefro?n the beginning :
And every one of thy righteous judgynents endureth forever :
(Ver. 128.) I esteem all thy precepts concerning cdl things to be
right. (Ver. 144.) The righteousness of thy testimonies is ev-
erlasting. (Ver. 152.) Thou has founded them forever. And
therefore (ver. 160,) Every one of them will endure forever ;
as if the Psalmist had said, " The thing required in thy law
*' is, in its own nature, right, everlastingly right ; and, there-
*' fore, as Governor of the world, thou hast by law forever set-
'' tied and established it as duty — by a law never to be altered,
*' but to endm'e forever : And forever, therefore, will it en-
" dure."

Obj. But is it fair and just for God to require more of his
creatures than they can do ?

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 65

Ans. What are we come to, in this apostate world, that we
cannot see it to be just and fair, in the great Governor of heav-
en and earth, the infinitely glorious God, to require us, as his
creatures, so much as to love him, with all our heaits ? What !
Is this too much ? Is this more than he deserves from us ? Or
does the truth lie here... .that we hate him so, that we cannot
find it in our hearts to love him ; and therefore crj', " He must
" not insist upon it ; or, if he does, he deals unjustly, and is
*' very hard with us ?" But is not this the very thing those citi-
zens did, who hated their Prince, and sent after him, saying,
Wc null not have this man to reign over us .^....Luke xix. 14,
These hints may serve as an answer for the present : But of
this more hereafter.

But while some are pleading, that Christ died to pmxhase
an abatement of the law, others carry the point still further, and
saif that Christ died entirehj to disannul it ; and that now it
ivholhj ceases to be a rule of life to believers : whenas one
great and declared design of Christ's coming into the world
was to recover his people to a conformity thereto : {Tit. ii. 11,
12, 13.) Oh how men love their corruptions, and hate God
and his holy law, and long to have it cashiered and removed out
of the world, that so they may live as they list, and yet escape
the reproaches of their consciences here, and eternal punish-
ment hereafter ! But God sitteth King forever, and will assert
the rights of his crown, and maintain the honor of his majesty,
and the glory of his great name, and vindicate his injured law ;
although it be in the eternal damnation of millions of his re-
bellious subjects : Luke xix. 27... .But those mine enemies ^xvhich
ivoukl not that I should reign over them, bring hither., and slay
them before me. And here, by the way, we may see what an
aversion men have to right thoughts of God and divine things ;
and may be convinced of the absolute necessity of a superna-
tural, all-conquering light, to remove these prejudices, and
make men see and believe the truth, and love, and cordially em-
brace it. {John viii. 47 — I Cor. ii. 14.) A holy God does not
appear infinitely glorious and amiable to an unholy heart; and

66 TRUE HELIGION DELINEATED, AND

einners, not seeing the grounds of loving God with all their
hearts, do not see the reason of the law ; they do not see how

holy^jtcst^ and ^0(7^ the law is, and the carnal mindh^m^ enmity
against Gody is, at the same time, enmity against the laxu^ which
is a transcript of the divine nature.. ..(7?(7W. \'iii. 7.) And hence,
sinners do not love to believe either God or his law to be what
they really are : And this temper makes them blind to what
the scripture says, andJf ads them to frame a false image of
God, and entertain falsfe notions of his law, that they may have
a God and a law both to their own minds.

And now, as are men's notions of the lazv, such are their
notions of religion ; the essence of which principally consist*
in a conformity to the law.

Hence, here is one ; he pleads for great abatements in the
law, and he contents himself with the mere form of religion.
He is not unjust, nor an extortioner, nor an adulterer j but
much better than some of his neighbors : He prays in his fam-
ily, goes to public worship, and attends the Sacrament, and
thinks himself a very good man ; like him in Luke xviii. 9, 10,
S:c. But as for the doctrines relating to our natural depravityy
regeneration, conversion^ faith^ communion xvith God^ and all the
inside of religion^ he understands nothing about them ; they
seem as strange as it did to Nicodemus to hear Christ discourse
about the nexv hirth..,.'J ohn\\\. And all the talk about the m-
ward influences of the holy spirit, in awakening, convincing,
humbling, and converting a sinner, and in enlightening, teach-
ing, quickening, comforting, and sanctifying a believer, is quite
unintelligible ■■, for these things do not come into his notions
of religion. According to his opinion, the law is brought down
so low, that it is an easy thing to become a good man : The
change is but small, and there is scarce any need of the spirit's
help ; much less any room for the exercise of sovereign grace ;
for he is so good-natured, that he can become good of his own
free will, (i. e. according to his notions of goodness,) and do
that which shall effectually entitle him to "the promises : And
thus he has the staff in his own hand. And now here is a

DISTIKGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 67

charming religion, perfectly suited to the taste of an apostate
world ; for it is calculated to quiet the conscience, while the
heart lies out estranged from God,aiiddead in s'm...Ro7U. vii. 8,9.
Especially, so much of it as is for their credit, and apparently
senes their worldly interest, will pretty readily and heartily be
fallen in with ; and the best have their failiugs... .no man is per-
fect....^nd I endeavor to be sincere. ...ixnd the best have their

doubts assurance is not to be attainet^^ and such-like pleas,

help to keep their consciences secure. And now, O how they love
those ministers, that cry, peace^ peace I but hate those that
would search things to the bottom, and sound an alarm to se-
cure sinners, and deluded hypocrites. The same temper that
makes them hate God and his law, makes them hate his min-
isters too : And diey are for another kind of God, and for
another kind of law — another kind of religion, and another
kind of ministers, that they may have all to their mind. And,
when all is done, they are confident they are now in the right,
because they are suited : They love to have it so, and there-
fore firmly believe it is so.

Hence, again, here is another^ who has been mightily terri-
fied, and in great distress, under a sense of the wrath of God
and the dreadfulness of damnation ; but, in the distressing hour,
he has had it revealed to him (by the spirit of God, he thinks)
that his sins are forgiven ; and now he is sure of heaven, and
is ravished at the thoughts of eternal glory : he holds it a great
sin to doubt ; and all his religion consists in failh and joy, i. e.
in believing that his sins are forgiven, and rejoicing in his bles-
sed and happy and safe estate, and in the expectation of future
glory : But as for a real conformity to the hnv^ it makes up no
part of his religion. He understands rightly nothing what the
law requires.. ..he is neither sensible of his duty to God, or to
his fellow-men ; yea, he hates to hear any thing about A/ry or ^;/-
ty : It is all legal^ he cries, and tends to kill religion^ atidtoivound
weak christians^ and grieve and drive away the spirit of grace ;
and no preachingsuits his tiisie,but what consists in telhngovcr
and commending such experiences as his, and in setting forth

68 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

the love of God and Christ to such, and calling upon such to
believe and rejoice, and never doubt their state again : And, in
•general, those things which tend to strengthen his confidence and
increase his joy, he esteems right and good ; and all things of
•a contrary, tendency he esteems wrong and bad. This seems to
•be his only crUeriijn of right and wrong, and the only rule he
makes use of in drawing up a judgment ; but as for the laxv^ it
is of no use with him. There is doubtless many a man that
feels and acts and lives as if the law was abated, who yet will
not plead for that doctrine : So, doubtless, there is many a man
that feels and acts and lives as if the law wholly ceased to be a
rule of life, who yet will not venture to say so. The force of
education, and their worldly interest and credit keep men ma-
ny times from shewing what they are b}'^ an open profession :
however, secretly this temper reigns within them ; yea, some-
times it breaks out into open light, in their visible conduct. —
But, as strange as it may seem, there are multitudes that not on-
ly have the root of these things in their hearts, but reallv believe
them and openly profess and plead foi' them. Hence it is, on
•the one hand, that the Arminian, Neonomian^ and Pelagiam er-
rors have taken their rise, and the Antinomian on the other. —
Wrong notions of God lie at the bottom ; and then wrong no-
tions of the law ; and then wrong notions of religion in general :
and all originally proceed and grov/ up out of the wrong tem-
per of men's minds ; for all unregenerate men would fain have
a God^ and a /art', and a j-eligion to suit the temper of their hearts.
Micah iv. 5. ...For all people xvill xvalk every one in the name of
his God.

In the mean time, the truly godly man, who sees that the ob-.
ligation which he is under, to love God with all his heart, re-
sulting from the excellency of the divine nature, is undiangea-
ble^ and that the law which reqviires this is unalterable^ in-
stead of going about to contrive a religion that may suit the na-
tural temper of his heait, is convinced that the temper of his
heart is the very thing that must be changed : He is convinced
of his infinite obligation to be altogether such as the laxv requires

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 69

him to be, and that he is infinitely blameable for the least defect.
Hence, those words, The law in holy^jtist^ and good....the Uau'
is spiritual ; but I am carnal^ sold under sin : 0 wretched man
that I am I do exactly express the thoughts of the most exalted
saint on earth ; yea, even oi the great Saint Paul himself.... A^cw.
vii. 12, 14, 24. Indeed, had St. Paul thought that the law was
l»holly disannulled, or much abated, he might then have ima-
gined that he was so good as to be quite free from sin, or pret-
ty near being so, and been ready to speak the language of the
Pharisee — God, Ithayik thee^ I am riot as other jyien. But now,
notwidistanding all his high and wonderful attainments, yet,
when he considered what the laxv was which he was under, and
how very far he was from being exactly w hat that required, the
native language of his humble heart is, lam carnal^ sold wider
sin I O wretched imm that lam .'* And now the Apostle, from
a sense of his infinite obligations to be what the law requires,
aiid of his great distance from \h\^., forgets the things xvhirh arc
behind i and he runs....h& rvrestles. .. .he J/ghts... .he strives, ..he
keeps under his body. ...he. lays aside every rveight ; in short, he
aj)peai-s like a man in a perfect agony ; so great was his sense
of duty y and so much hud he to do : And, at the same time, from
a sense of his impotency and of his unworthiness....of his need
of the redeemer and the sanctificr, it is his miixim to pray al-
7uaySj and to ask all things in the najne of Christ. Now, in his
example we have the temper which prevails more or less in ev-
er)- godly man exactly painted : And thus wc have had pictured,
in miniature, three different sorts ofreligion, arising from three
different notions of the law. The picture is begun ; and, in the
sequel, I purpose to paint all three as near to the life as I can,
that we may see what the)' are, and wherein they differ ; which

* Smne have thought thai St. Paul huil amvcd so nigh io perfection, that
lie could not speak these words oi hinuclj'. 'I'heir inibta!;c teeii^.s to arise
from their wrong notions of the /(jw, to whieh St. Ptii//c(jnii)ared himself,
and aceording to which he drew uji his judgment. And from the same
sonrcc it seenis to he, tliat they canthink tliose words, (ve;. 2-,) a])pl:cablc
to the unregenerate . . ./ de!i}(bt in the iui:- of God after t.be iv.v:ard man . W hen ,
in trnih, tlie nnrc;',cneaatc .ire, in thciriem;)er, dianietricallv opposite to the
lnv,- . . . . Jfofiu viii- 7-

70 THUE Rr.LlClON DELINEATED, AND

is right, and -which is wrong. — But so much for the first infer-
ence, that the hnv^ as a rule oftlutij^ cannot be repealed or abated.
And now to proceed,

2. From what has been said, It Is evident that the larv, in its
ilireatenings of eternal damnation for the least sin^ is equally in-
captible of any repeal or abatement : for if our obligation to love
God with all our hearts and obey him in every thing, resulting
from the divine perfections, is infinite, eternal, and unchangea-
ble ; and if, therefore, the least sin necessarily be infinitely eyil,
and deserving of an infinite punishment, and unalterably so, then
the law, considered as threatening eternaldamnation for the least
sin, is, in its own nature, unalterably holy and just ; and conse-
quently it cannot be repealed, consistently with the holiness, jus-
tice, and honor of the great Governor of the world. If the Gov-
ernor of the world had, in a mere arbitrary lyianner^ made a law
that sin should be punished with eternal damnation,thcnhe might,
in a mere arbitrary manner ^\\2L\t repealed it : but since, in the
nature of things, jj/.y^/tr called for it, that such a law should be
made, therefore, so long as the gi'ounds and reasons of the law
remain, the law cannot, injustice, be repealed.

None can deny but that the gi-eat Governor of the world has
actually made a law that sin shall be punished with eternal dam-
nation ; and none can deny but that this law is to be put in ex-
ecution, to the full, at and after the great judgment-day ; But
if Justice had not called for it, surely the infinitely good Governor
of the world would never have made such a law, much less
would he ever put it in execution : for, to make and execute
such a law, in a merely arbitrary, sovereign manner, when, in
the nature of \\i\n^, justice does not call for it, would be infinite-
ly cruel and tyrannical, and perfectly inconsistent with the di-
vine perfections, as is self-evident.. ..See Genesis xviii. 25. and
E-zekiel xviii. 2 J.

Eat, then, if the great Governor of the world made this law
not arbitrarily, but because, in the nature of things, Jw.y?;ce call-
edfor it, then, so long as the reason and ground of the law re-
main, the law itself cannot, injustieey ever be repealed. If jus*

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 71

tice called for its being made, then it cannot be wi-made, con-
sistently with justice, so long as the ground and reason of it re-
main, as is self-evident. But the reason of the law is, in the
nature of things, unalterable : for the reason of the law was the
infinite eoiloj sin^ whereby it deserved an infinite punishment.
As long, therefore, as sin remains an infinite evil, so long must
the law stand unrepealed : but sin will alwajs be an infinite evil^
so long as we are under infinite obligations to love God with all
our hearts, and obey him in every thing, which we shall always
be, so long as God remains infinitely glorious and amiable, and
this will be forever ; therefore, this law can never possibly, con-
sistently with divine jwAf/ct', be repealed.

For any, therefore, to desire to have it repealed, is to turn
enemy to the holiness, and justice, and honor of the supreme
Ruler of the world, as well as to his law and government ; and
argues that they have no regard to the rectitude and fitness of
things, but only to self-interest ; as those among men are real
enemies to the civil government who desire the good and whole-
some laws thereof to be repealed : And it is upon this ground
that St. Paul concludes carnal men to be at einnity against God,
because they are enemies to his law....(/?5W2, viii. 7.) For if
men loved God, they would be disposed to love his law and
government, which express his nature.

To suppose, therefore, that the Son of God came into the
world and died, that the lav»^, in its ihreatenings, might be re-
pealed^ is to suppose tliat he also is turned an enemy to God.. .to
his holiness and justice. ...to his law and government ; and that
he is properly gone over to be on the side of his father's rebel-
lious subjects.

Besides, to what purpose would it have been (on the hj^ioth-

esis of these men), for Christ to have died, that the law, in its

thrcatcnings, might be repealed ? What need was there of it ?

or what good would it have done ? For if, mjh'stice, it ought to

have beep repealed, there was no need of his dying to procure

this ; or if, injustice^ it ought 729t to be repealed, then his dying

could not procure it, and so would do no good. The righteous

L

72 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Governor of the world would have repealed it of his own ac-
cord, if it had been right and fit so to do ; and if, in the nature
of things, it was not right, then not any thing whatever could
persuade him to do it.

But the truth is, Christ came into the world, and died to an-
sxver all the demands of the laxv ; that so, although the sinner be
saved, yet the law might never be repealed, but be firmly estab-
lished : for the Governor of heaven and earth was utterly
against the law being repealed, as a thing in itself infinitely un-
reasonable : And therefore the Apostle says, Do xve make void
the law through faith P God forbid! yea^ we establish the law....
Rom. iii. 31. And indeed it was nothing but God's infinite
aversion to repeal the law, as a thing in itself infinitely unfit
and wrong, that was the thing which made the death of Christ
needful : for, if the law might have been repealed, sinners might
have been saved without any more ado ; but, if it could not,
and must not be repealed, then die demands of it must be an-
swered by some means or other, or every sinner damned : And
now Christ stepped in and did this j and so secured the honor
of God's holiness and justice, law and government, and open-
ed a way for the sinner's salvation. And this account of the
reason of Christ's death the scriptures plainly give us : — Gal.
iii. 10, 13, 14.. ..Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things xvritten in the book of the law to do them. — Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law^ being made a curse for us^
That the blessing of Abraham rfiight come on the Gentiles^ through
yesus Christ : For (Heb. ix. 22.) without shedding of blood
there is no remission: Therefore (I^om. in. 25,26.) Christ was
set forth to be a propitiation for sin. ...to declare his righteousness
....that he might be just., and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus : And hence (ver. 31,) Do we make void the laxu
through faith f God forbid ! yea, zve establish the law.

Yea, the Apostle evidently sets out upon this hypothesis, that
the law is not repealed, but stands in full force : He lays this
down as zfrst principle^ in that argumentative discoui-se \\'hich
we have in the three first chapters of his epistle to the Romans:

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 73

Chap. i. ver. 18....7'A^ wrath of God is revealed from heaven
agahist all ungodliness and un righteousness of men . And taking
this for granted, he goes on to prove, that both Jervsand Greeks
ore all under sin, and so the xviiole world guihy before God ; to
the 19th verse of the 3d chapter : And hence he argues, that by
the deeds of the laxv no flesh could be justified. But now, if the
law was repealed, the whole world was not guilty before God,
nor any one in the world : For sin is not ityiputed ivhere there
is no /aw.. ..Rom. V. 13. And if the law was repealed, what
need was there of such a long train of arguments, to prove, that
no flesh could be justified by the law ? For it would have been
enough to have said, that a repealed law could neither justify
nor condemn any body. And why does he use such arguments
as he does ? For thus he*reasons, " The law requires perfect
" obedience as a condition of life, and threatens tribulation and
** wrath against every soul of man that doth evil : But Jews and
" Gentiles have all sinned : therefore are all guiltv and condemn-
*' ed according to law ; and consequently cannot be cleared and
"justified by law :" For all this reasoning supposes that the
law is as much in force as ever it was : And, accordingly', he
goes on to show, that the design of Christ's death was to an-
swer the demands of the law, that there might be a way open-
ed for the salvation of sinners, consistent with divine justice,
and, at the same time, the law not be made void, but establish-
ed ; as we have before observed. — And now this being the case.
Hence, we find the scriptures every where look upon those
who have not a special interest in the righteousness of Christ,
by faith, as being as much under the wrath of God and curse of
the law, as if Christ had never died. John iii. \S....He that be-
lieveth not is condemned already : Ver. o6....The wrath of God
abideth upon him : And, Gal. iii.. 10.. ..^a- inany as are cf the
xuorks of the law are under the curse : And, Rom. i. 18.. ..The
xvralh of God is revealed from heaven, ag<ii fist all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Thus the wrath of God is revealed against the unbeliever ; yea,
abides upon him ; yea, the law condemns and curses him : But

74 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

if the law had been repealed by the death of Christ, all the world
would have been freed from the curse : For a repealed law can
neither bless the righteous, nor curse the wicked ; but stands
for nothing.

And hence, also, we find that Christless sinners, when awa-
kened by the holy spirit to see and feel what a state they are in,
are always convinced that they are under the wrath of God and
curse of the law , and hereby are made to understand their
need of a Savior.... (/^om. iii. 19, 20.) But if the law had been
repealed by the death of Christ, this could not be ; for they
would then have been under no wrath, nor curse ; nor would
any have ever felt a sp'u'it of bondage^ as they do in every age
of the world, and as they used to do in St. Paul's day....(i?om.
viii. 15.) For it is the/ctty only that works wrath. ...Horn. iv. 15.

And hence we shall find, even all the world shall find, and
thousands and thousands to their everlasting sorrow, that when
the clay of judgment comes, the law shall be executed with the
utmost severity upon all that know not God, and obey not the
gospelof Jesus Christ, ...(11. Thes. i. 7, 8.) And God's justice,in
so doing, will shine bright in the sight of all worlds ; for he de-
signs, on that day, to reveal the righteousness of his judgments :
and hence it is called the day of the revelation of the righteous
judgment of God.. ..(Rom. ii. 5.) But if the law is repealed by
the death of Christ, and if God has told the world that he has
repealed it.. ..for him now to revive it, and judge and condemn
the world by it, would be to cast contempt upon the death of
Christ, and deceive his poor creatures, and unmercifully and
unrighteously judge and condemn them, by a law that was re-
pealed....a law they never were under, and so ought never to
have been judged by. From the whole, therefore, it is evident,
that the law that threatens eternal damnation for the least sin,
never has been, and never will be repealed.

Well, then, (if this be the case) may ministers thunder hell
and damnation against a secure, wicked World ; and well may
poor sinners tremble under a sense of divine wrath, when their
eyes begin to be opened to see where they are : for all those

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 75

comforts that the formalist gets by thinking the law is abated
or disannulled, and so his state safe, are but the result of an er-
roneous head, and a heart secure in sin. And what has been
said under this particular, will rationally account for all the ag-
ony and distress of an awakened sinner. When God, the
great Governor of the world, the revenger of sin, begins to
make the poor sinner remember his ways and his doings which
have not been right, and sec what a creature he is, and wl.ut a
condition he is in, and be sensible of what he deserves ; and
when he comes to understand that his soul is forfeited, and that
it is right that justice should take place, and that God is at lib-
erty to do as he pleases, surely this must be heart-rending,
soul-distressing to a poor, sinful, guilty, hell-deserving creature.
And if God will not repeal the law, but still insist upon it,
that it is holy and just, no wonder the sinner is made to own
it too, before ever he is pardoned : For it would be unbecom-
ing the supreme Lord of the universe, to grant a pardon to a
guilty rebel, that is too high-hearted to own that the law, by
which he stands condemned, is holy and just. O how right it
is, that die sinner should come down, and see, and know, and
own forever, that he is justly condemned, and, as such, apply
himself to the sovereign grace of God, through Jesus Ciirist,
for a pardon ! And O how sovereign, and free, and di\ ine, is
that grace that pardons and saves the poor, sinful, guilty, hell-
deserving wretch, through Jesus Christ! (J^om. iii. 19,27.)
And thus as God the Father honors the law, by refusing to repeal
it, and God the Son, by answering its demands — so does God,
the Holy Ghost, by making the }>oor sinner see, and feel, and
own, that it is holy and just, before ever he internallv reveals the
mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, unto him ; so that the law
is honored, and sin is embittered, and the sinner humbled, and
grace glorified, all at once : As in the external revelation God
has made in his word, the law is before the gospel ; so it is in
internal influences and operations of the holy spirit upon the
elect ; and that for the same reason, that the Unv might be a
school-master, to brin^ men to Christ.

76 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

To conclude, from all that has been said, we may learn what
to think of the religion and of the hopes of these two sorts of
men. (1.) The legal hypocrite^ who^ s\ip]yos\nQ that the good
old laxv is repealed and laid aside, and that a new law^ only re-
quiring sincere obedlence^\s established in its room, merely from '
self-love, and for self-ends, sets about duty and endeavors to be
sincere ; and here on this foundation builds all his hopes of ac-
ceptance in the sight of God : for since the law is not repealed,
but stands in full force, therefore the religion of such is not that
thing which God requires or will accept ; and their new law is
a 7vhim, and their hopes are all built on the sand ; I'heir whole
scheme results from a total ignorance of God, and his law, and
the present state of mankind ; and is entirely built on falsehood.
(2.) The evangelical hypocrite — all whose ya/i/z and Joz/ original-
ly result from a supposed discovery of the love of God, or love
of Christ, or that his sins are pardoned. This discovery is the
foundation of his faith, and his faith is the foundation of his joy
and of all his religion : And yet the thing discovered is a lie ;
for, as has been proved, every one, until he is a believer, until he
has acted faith, is not pardoned, but condemned — is not belov-
ed of God, but under his wrath ; and, therefore, to have par-
don of sin and the love of God discovered before the first act of
faith, and to have such a discovery lay the foundation for the
first act of faith, and a foundation for all religion, is to be impo-
sed upon with a lie, and t > have a gross falsehood lie at the
foundation of their faith.... their religion, and of all their hopes.
The legal hj'pocrite may be convinced by such scriptures as
these.... Luke xviii. 9 — 13....Rom. iii. 20 — 31. and Chapter iv.
ver. 3. ; which prove that a man cannot find acceptance with
God by his own righteousness ; And the evangelical hypocrite
may be convinced by such scriptures asthese.... jfolm iii, 18, 36.
Acts iii. 19. ; which prove that a sinner is not pardoned till af-
ter faith. A true sight and sense of the law would effectually
convince the one, and the other, that all their hopes are built on
wrong apprehensions of things, and that all their religion is coun-
terfeit ; and that they are yet in the gall of bitterness and bonds

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUKTERFEITS. 77

of iniquity : and the one would no longer venture his soul on
his own righteousness^ nor the other on his discovery. The law's
insisting upon perfect, sinless obedience, would convince the one
that his own righteousness might not be depended upon ; and
the lawV cursing every unbeliever, would convince the other
that his discovery was false ; and the law's requiring us to love
God primarily for his own beauty, would convince Ixjtii of their
graceless estates, in as much as the religion of both primarily
takes its rise from self-lovx. It is from the want of a realizing
sight and sense of the nature and extent of the law, and that out
of Christ \Ve are exposed to all the curses thereof, that a sinful,
guiltv world are so insensible of their graceless, and their wretch-
ed and miserable condition, and so apt to flatter themselves that
they are rich, and increased in goods, and stand in need of noth-
ing. Rom. vii. 8, \)....lVithoiit the laxv sin was dead. I was
alive without the Lav 07JCe.

Thus we see that the obligation which we were under to love
God with all our hearts, resulting from the mfmite excellency of
the divine nature^ antecedent to all selfibh considerations, is in-
finitelify eternally^ and unchangeably binding : And thus we see
a variety of important consequences necessarily following there-
from : And I have insisted the longer upon the nature of this
obligation, not only because it is the first and greatest, but because
it has a mighty influence in all our additional ohW^oXions. — For,

5. And lastly. Jt is from the infinite excellency of the divine
naturCy that all otir additional obligations originally derive their
strength, their energy, their binding poxver. The infinite ex-
cellency of the divine nature so entirely lays the foundation of its
being our duty to love God with all our hearts, that were it not
for this, it would cease to be our duty, notwithstanding all oth-
er confiidcrations. If he were not, by nature, God, it would
not be fit that we should love and worship him as God, upon
any account whatsoever ; He could have no such right to us, or
authority over us, as to make it our duty ; nor could he render
it our duty, by showing us any kindness whatsoever; Yea, if he
were not, by nature, God, it would be wrong for us to pay liim

78 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

divine adoration ; it would be idolatry ; it would be woi-ship-
ping one as God, who, by nature, is ?iot God : And by the same
argument which the orthodoxhrwe. been wont to use against the
Arians^ who deny the divinity of Christ.... T/'A^ be not a divine
person, he ought not to have divine worship paid him; — I say,
by the same argument, if God were not, by nature, God, it
could not, upon any account, be our duty to love and worship
him as God, It is his being, by nature, God — ^his being what
he is, and his infinite excellency in being such, which therefore
lays the original foundation of all our obligations, and which
gives life and energy to all : And, accordinrvly, we may observe,
that the original ground and reason upon which God, as Gov-
ernor of the world, acts, in making a law that we should love
him with all our hearts, is, because he is the Lord ; as is evident
from the tenor of the lawitself : — Thou shalt love Me*LoRD,&c./.^.
because he is the Lord, &c. Yea, it is upon this ground, origi-
nally, that God takes it upon him to give all his laws to us ; for
this is the constant style.... 77m* and thus shallye do, for I am
THE Lord.

Those, therefore, who are influenced to love and worship God
7iot at all, because he is God, but altogether from other consid-.
erations....not at all horn a sense of his infinite excellency, but
altoo-ether on other accounts, are so far from being truly religious,
that they arc, indeed, guilty of great wickedness in all they do:
for although they pretend to love and worship God, yet it is not
at all because he is God ; — though they pretend to pay divine
adoration to him, yet it is not at all because he is a divine Be-
ing : so that when they pretend to pay divine worship and ado-
ration to God, it is merely from some selfish consideration....
from self-love, and for self-ends ; — there is no true regard to
God, but all centers in self : so that self, indeed, is their idol^
and the only God they serve ; and their pretending to love and
worship God is mere mockery. When they pretend to love and
worship God, it is not at all because he is God., ..not at all from
a sense of his divine glory, but only to appease his anger and
obtain his favor, or because they consider him as their friend

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 79

and benefactor. And now, to come to God and pretend to
worship him asif he was God, and yetnottodo it at all because
he is God, but for mean, and mercenary, and selfish ends, is a
very complicated wickedness ; and to think to please God in
this way, and get into favor by this means, discovers such igno-
rance and contempt of God, and a frame of heart so full of se-
cret blasphemy, spiritual idolatry, pride and hypocrisv, as can-
not easily be expressed : They practically deny his divinity,
yet pretend to pay him divine worship; They pretend to serve
God, yet really intend only to serve themselves : They make
as if they loved God, but only love themselves : Yet so intol-
erably mean are their thoughts of God, that thej'^ expect to
please him by all this. To make the best of it, all that religion
is mere hvpocrisy, which does not primarily take its rise from
a sense of the infinite excellency of the divine nature.

Thus, then, we see what is the Jirst and chief motive of a
genuine love to God. He is a Being of infinite understanding,
and of almighty power — infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice,
goodness, and truth. ...and so a Being of infinite glory and ex-
cellency....and so infinitely amiable, and infinitely worthy to be
loved with all our hearts. And this obligation is binding ori-
ginallv in itself, antecedent to a consideration of any other mo-
tive whatsoever : and it is infinitely, eternally, and unchange-
ably binding, and gives life, and energy, and strength to all
other obligations. And hence, if we do love God with all our
hearts, we do but our duty, and deserve no thanks ; but we
are infinitely to blame for the least defect, and can never do any
thing to atone for it, but deserve everlasting damnation. And
it will always be our duty thus to love God, and the least defect
will be always thus blame-worthy, let our circumstances, as to
happiness or misery, be what they will. All our hearts will be
always due to God, and we shall always stand bound to pay
this debt, whether we have any heart for it or no : and God
will always appear such an infinite enemy to the least defect, as
in his law he. has declared himself to be ; nor is there any hope
©four finding acceptance in his sight, unless it be by a union

80 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

to, and interest in, him who has answered all the demands
of the law, in the room of those who believe in him. And all
pretence of love to God, which does not take its rise from this
foundation, is but mere hypocrisy. All these consequences
so necessarily follow, from a supposition of the inHnite excel-
lency and amiableness of the divine nature, and so evidently, as
that, if God be but seen aright, a sense of his infinite beauty
will immediately assure the heart tliat these things are so. A
sense of his infinite glory will make us see and feel that we are
under infinite obligations to love him with all our hearts, and
t'nat we could desei-ve no thanks for doing so, but that the least
deii;ct is infinitely wrong, &c. A sense of the infinite glory of
God will effectually establish the heart in these things against
all the subtle arguments and fair pretences of heretics. A sense
of the infinite glory of God, immediately imparted to the soul by
tlie spirit of God, whereby the heart is thus divinely established
in the belief of the truth, is, therefore, that unction from the holy
one^ which all the saints have, whereby they are effectually se-
cured from being finally led away by false teachers ; at least,
that unction consists partly in this, (I. John ii. 20 — 27,) And
at the same time that the people of God are thus established in
the belief of these truths, relating to law and duty, from a sense
of the infinite gloiy of God ; I say, at the same time this sense
of the infinite glory of God begets a disposition in the heart to
conform to this law and do this duty. And thus it is that God
writes his lazv in our hearts^ and puts it in our inxvard parts^
v/hen he intends to become our Go^,and to make us his people...
(Heb. viii. 10, 11.) And hence it begins to be the naturcoi the
people of God, to love him with all their hearts ; and their
views and their temper, and every thing else being thus entirely
Jieru^ hence they are called nexu creatures. Old things are passed
awau. and all thinps are become nexv. Bat now, this sense of
the infinite glory of God, which thus lays the very lowest foun-
dation of true religion, is entirely left out of all false religions.
And by this., true religion stands distinguished, as something
specifically different frora all the false religions in the world.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFtlTS. 81

And hence we may obser\'e, that it is spoken of in scripture, as
something peculiar to true saints, that they see God and knoxv
God. Johnviii. 19, 55. ...Tt neither knoiv yne, nor mu Father.
John xiv. 19.... The world seeth me no morc^hiit ye see me. I. John
\i\.b... .Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, neither knotvn him.
I. John ii. 5.... Herein/ xve do know that we know' him, 'fi^c keep
his commandments. I. John iv. 7, B.... Every one that loveth^
knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, And the
unregenerate, not knowing God....not havinga sense of his in-
finite glory to lay the foundation of their love and of their reli-
gion, hence all their love andalltheirreligionentircly take their
rise from mere selfish considerations, and nothing but silf-love
lies at bottom. And hence it is natural for unregenerate men
to think they deserve something for their duties, and as natural
to be insensible of the infinite evil of their sins : And so it is
their nature to magnify and be proud of their own goodness,
and to extenuate and be unhumbled for their badness. And
from hence results our native aversion Xo faith and repentance^
and contrariety to the gospel-way of salvation. And nov/ new
gospels^ new' sorts of faith and repentance are coined, new notions
of religion contrived, to suit the depraved temper and vitiated
taste of unhumbled, impenitent sinners, who are concerned to
secure their own interest, but care not what becomes of God's
honor. Hence errors take their rise, and professing christians
are divided into parties, and one runs this way, and another that,
and all hope to get to heaven at last. And now, at length, after
so great a variety of inferences and remarks, and so large a con-
sideration of the first and chief motive of a genuine love to
God, I proceed,

2. To take a shortv\c.v>' of the additional obligations which xve
lie under ^ to love God with all our hearts. I am the Lord,
(this lays the first foundation, and leads the way, when from
Mount Sinai the Almighty proclaims his law, but then he imme-
diately goes on to add,) thy God, which brought thee out of ihe^
land of Egypt and out of the house cf!/ondage....V^\od. xx. God
has such a right to us, and such an authority over us, and has

8t TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

done so many things for us, and promised so many things to us,
that our additional obligations to be the Lord's, to love him and
live to him, are exceedingly great. Particularly,

Nothing is more reasonable than that we should be entirely
dedicated to that God, whose we are originally^ and by an entire j
underived, and unaliejiable right : especially, considering what
he is in himself, and that he is Lord of all things, and, by na-
ture, God most high ; Indeed, if our Creator was not, by nature,
the most high God, then he could not be the supreme Lord of
all .hings ; for there would be one above him ; and so we should
not be his, entirely and absolutely ; for he himself, and we his
creatures, would belong, originally, to another.. .even to him that,
by nature, would be the most high God ; and him we ought to
love and worship. But our Creator himself, being absolutely
the first, and absolutely supreme, self-existent, and independent,
the sole author and Lord of all things, as well as infinitely glo-
rious in himself, his right to us is original, underived, and most
absolute and entire : and therefore it is infinitely fit and suita-
ble that we should be, in the constant frame and disposition of
our hearts, absolutely, entirely, and wholly the Lord's, and that
we should foi'ever exert all our powers, to the very utmost, to
promote his honor and interest. And it is infinitely unreason-
able that we should ever set up ourselves, and be attached to
any interest of our owm, separate from his. And, inasmuch as
he is infinitely better than we are, (yea, all the nations of the earth
are less than nothing before hi;n^ and has such an entire right
unto us, his interest, therefore, should be regarded as more val-
uable than our own.. ..yea, infinitely more : For if our own in-
terest appears as valuable to us as his, we set ourselves upon a
level with him, and claim as great a right to ourselves as he has ;
and if his interest does not appear as being of infinitely greater
value to us than our own, we do not esteem him as being infi-
nitely better than we are ourselves, and his right to us infinitely
greater than our own right to ourselves is. It is, therefore, in-
finitely reasonable, since God is what he is, and has such a right
tx) us as he has, that we should be constantly, from the very

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 83

bottom of our hearts, wholly his, and every moment live wholly
to him, and always have his interest lie most near our hearts,
as being of infinitely more worth, value, and importance than
our own : As Moses, who, in a measure, was made partaker
pf this divine nature, in the anguish of his heart, cries, when God
tells him he will cutoff Israel, and make of him a great nation,
"Lord, let my name be blotted out of thy book ; let it be forgot-
" ten from among the living, and be never heard of again in
*' the world that ever I was in being : But what will become of
" thy great name?'''' — God's honor and interest were dear to him ;
but he, comparatively, cared not for his own at a//....Exod.
xxxii. — Num. xiv.

But this our obligation to be entirely the Lord's, is still in-
finitely increased, if we consider the authority of the su-
preme Governor oixhe. world, which, by his express law^ has en-
joined this upon us. It is not only infinitely fit, in its own na-
ture, that we should love God with all our hearts, considering
what he is in himself, and that we should be entirely for him,
in the temper of our minds, considering what an entire right he
has to us as his creatures, who have received all we have from
him, and are absolutely dependant on him for all v.e want ; but
God has, by /aw, as Governor of the world, enjoined this upon
us as our duty, and that with all his authority : And now, con-
sidering what he is in himself, and the natural right he has to
all things, and how entirely we are his, and absolutely under his
government,^his authouity is infinitely binding ; especially,
considering how infnitdy engaged he appears to be to see that
his law be exactly obeyed, in promising eternal life on the one
hand, and threatening eternal damnation on the other : This
his infinite cngagcdness^ lays us under infinite bonds to be and
do exactly what he requires.

But still, our obligation to love him with all our hearts, and
be wholly the Lord's, is yet infinitely more increased, if we con-
sider what ways the Lord has taken with us in this apostate
world, since our rebellion agaii-!;=t him. ..since wc have lost all es-
teem for him, turned enemies to him, cast off his authority, and

64 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

practically bid defiance to his power and justice : for, instead
of immediately dooming all this lower world to blackness of
darkness forever, he has sent his Son, his only begotten Son,
from heaven, to bring us the news of pardon and peace, and, by
his own death, to open a way for our return imto him, and to
call and invite us to return : And now, with a liberal hand, he
strews common mercies all round the world, among evil, un-
thankful, guilty, hell-deserv'ingrebels, and fills the heartsof all with
food and gladness ; and sends forth his messengers to proclaim
it to tlie ends of the earth, that it is his will that all his rebellious
creatures lay down their weapons of rebellion — acknowledge the
law, by which they stand condemned, to be holy, just, and good,
and look to him through Jesus Christ for pardon as a free gift,
•and through Jesus Christ return unto him, and give up them-
selves to him entirely, to love him and live to him, and delight
in him forever.

And while the world in general make light of aUr this, and
go to their farms, and to their merchandize, and many are enra-
ged and cr}'' out against the messengers of peace, and stone some
and kill others (^Mat. xxii.) — that now he should, of his own sov-
ereign good pleasure, according to his eternal purpose, seizt
here and there one, by his all-conquering grace, and stop them
in their career to hell, and make them see and feel their sin and
guilt, and own the sentence just by which they stand condemn-
ed, and bring them as upon their knees to look to free grace
through Jesus Christ for a pardon, and through Jesus Christ to
give up themselves forever to him — that Tioif he should receive
them to favor, and put them among his children, and become
their father and their God, in an everlasting covenant, and un-
dertake to teach and lead... to quicken and strengthen... to cor-
rect and comfort, and so to humble, and purify, and sanctify^
and fit them for his heavenly kingdom ; and, while they are in
this world, to give them all things that are best for them, and
make all things Avork together for their good, and finally bring
them unto, and possess them of eternal glory and blessedness,
in the full enjoyment of himself forever ; — for a God oi infinite

DISTINGUISHED FROJI ALL COUNTERFSITS. 85

greatness and glory to deal jwi jo, with just such creatures, is
the most amazing and astonishing grace ; and lays infijiite bonds
upon believers to love the Lord their God with all their hearts,
and to live to him forever, and has the greatest tendency to an-
imate them so to do : And thus, by these brief hints, we have
a general view of the additional motives of a true and genuine
love to God.

As God's bringing up the children of Israel out of Eg^'pt —
leading them through the wilderness — driving out the heathen
from before them, and giving them that good land which flow-
ed with milk and honey, and covenanting to be their God, is used
so frequently, by Moses and the Prophets, throughout all the
Old Testament, as a motive to engage them to cleave to the
Lord, and to him only and entirely, and forever ; so God's send-
ing his Son into the world, to save his people from their sins,
their spiritual bondage, together with all the spiritual and ever-
la-^ting blessings of the covenant of grace, are continually used
in the New Testament, as arguments to engage believers not
to live to themselves, but to him that died for them. — Only
here let these thing-s be remembered :

(1 .) That a sight and sense of the infinite greatness xaxid glory
of God, from whom all good comes, and a sense of their own in-
finite meanness and unworthiness, makes all the mercies they
receive, infinitely the more endeoring and engaging : for the mcr-
ctes themselves now appear unspeakably the ^rca^^r, in that they
come from such a God, and to such creatures ; and the infnitc
goodness of God shines the brighter in every mercy, and xhefree-
ness of his grace is the more conspicuous, on account of which he
is infinitely amiable. The infinite greatness and glory of Ciod,
in general, ravishes the heart — the infinite moral beauty of the
divine gT)odncss and grace, in/>(7r//f7/ilr/;-, ravishes the heart ; and
now, that such « Goo' should shew such kindnesses to such a crea-
ture, is very affecting. JVho ayn /, 0 Lord God? Andxvhatis
my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ? says holy David
...,And is this the manner of men^ 0 Lord God P No surely....
Wherefore thou art great, 0 Lord God : For there is none like

86 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

tJiee^ neither is there amj Godbesides thee.. ..11. Sam. vii. 18 — 22.
God is loved for the kindnesses bestowed ; but he is more loved
for the infinite beauty of that goodness which is displayed in the
bestowment of them, and for his being altogether such a one as
he is. So the ^leen of Sheba esteemed Solomon for the kind-
nesses he shewed her, but primarily, and much more, for his own
personal excellencies : And his personal excellencies made her
esteem his favors to her of much greater worth. That ^glorious
and ever-blessed GoT) should treat sinners so, is infinitely endear-
ing. Now these sensations, which a true believer has, and his
love to God arising therefrom,must be vastly different from ev-
ery thing v/hich natural men experience, who know not God,
and have no higher principle in them than self-love.

(2.) Let it also be remembered, that God designs^ by all his
dealings and kindnesses to his people, to bring them nearer to
himself m. this world, and to the everlasting enjoyment pf himself
In the world to come. He means, for the present, to humble
tliem, and wean them from the world... .to make them more
spiritually and heavenly-minded.... to bring them to be more
acquainted with GoJ, and more entirely to take up their
rest and contentment in him ; and, therefore, all things are cal-
culated, by his infinite wisdom and goodness, to attain this end.
And this causes all the wise and kind dealings of God, outward-
ly in his providence, and inwardly by his spirit, and that both by
way of cotTcction, as well as by way of consolation, to appear
in a very affecting and engaging light to true believers. While
they see wliat God is in himself, and his infinite beauty in being
such. ...while they see how infinitely sufficient he is to be all
things to them, and to do all things for them, and the blessedness
of living wholly upon him, and trusting wholly in him. ...while
they see God calculating all things to bring them to him, and
actually find all things working this way, their obligations to love
him and live to hirti appear infinitely binding, and their hearts
are mightily engaged and animated. This view of things makes
all their afflictions appear as great mercies ; because they are so
wisely calculated to bring them near to God : P^alrn cxix. Tl.

•ISTlNGUISUliD FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 87

This view of things adds an inftnite value to all the kindnesses
of God, over and above what they are worth merely in them-
selves, because they are all so wisely calculated to bring them
near to God. This is the kernel of all that tender mercy and
loving kindness which they see in all their afflictions, and in all
their comforts : Heb. xii. 10, 1 1 — Rotu. viii. 28. To be brought
near to God, is worth more than all the world ; — there is no por-
tion like God.. ..no comfort like that which is to be taken in him :
He is tlie godly man's all. Psalm Ixxiii. 25....JVhom have I
in heaven but thee P And there is nothing on earth Idesire besides
thee. And now that such a God should take nuch methods ^\\\\h
jnM such a creature^ to bring him to the possession oi such a
good^ is the most amazing goodness, and the most astonishing
grace. Now here is a sense of the excellency of the divine na-
ture in general^ and a sense of the moral beauty of the divine
goodness in particular,, and of the unspeakable mercy God shews
to th(nn, which mcnij is injinitely magnified in their account,
from the value they have for God, as ihc portion of their souls,
from all which their love to God takes its rise ; wliereby their
love appears to be exceedingly different from any thing which na-
tural men experience, who neither know God, nor relish com-
munion with him, but are contrary to him in all things ; and, on-
ly from self-love, are glad of the good things they receive from
God, which good things they live upon and make a God of —
whether they be worldly good things, or great light, and com-
fort, and joy of a religious nature.

(3.) Let it also be remembered, that all God's gifts to his peo-
ple are so many talents bestowed upon thtmyultimately to be im-
proved for God^ whereby they are juit under advantages to glo-
rify God and do good in the xvorld : And the more they have of
worldly substance. ..of natural powers. ..of acquired accomplish-
ments, and of the gracious influences of the holy spirit, 8>:c. the
greater are their advantages to act for God, to promote his hon-
or and interest, and to do good. Now, in proportion as they
love God, in the same proportion is his honor and interest, and
the good and welfare of his creatures and suiijects, dear unto

N

88 TRUE. RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

them. The interest and honor of God lie nearer to the hearts
ol his people, than their parents, or consorts, or children, or
houses and lands — yea, than their own lives ; {Luke xiv. 26.)
I'o be Linder advantages, therefore, to promote his honor and
interest, must, in their account, be esteemed a-a inestimable priv-
ilege. Hence, they love God for all things they receive from
him, because by all they are put under such advantages to live
to him and serve him, seeking his interest, and honor, and glo-
ry ; a remarkable instance of which v/e have in Ezra, thathearty
friend to God, and to his honor and interest.. ..See Ezra vii.
2r, 28, compared with the rest of the chapter. Now herein,
again, their love to God for his benefits is evidently different
from any thing which natural men experience, who have no
higher principle than self-love, and are entirely actuated by it.

And as the love of the saint and of the hypocrite thus greatly
differ in their nature, so do they also differ as greatly in their
fruits and effects, Ezra loved God greatly for his kindnesses
to him, because thereby he was put under advantages to do so
much for God's glory, and for the good of his people. And now
see hov^ active he is for God, and how he exerts himself to do
good, and to reform eveiy thing that was amiss among the Jews,
{\'Qm the eighth chapter m\6. on ; while the hvpocritical Jews,
who, no doubt, were also greatly affected with the mercy of God,
in their deliverance from their long captivity, were so far from
being active for God, that they, not caring for Vis honor or his
laws, committed great abominations. ...^zrtt ix. 1. So the chil-
dren of hrael, at the Red-Sea, seemed to be full of love to God,
as well as Moses ; but as they had different sorts of love, so their
carriage did as greatly differ afterwards, for the course of forty
years : and no wonder,. . .for the hypocritical Israelites only loved
themselves, and cared only for their own interest; but Moses
loved God, and cared, above all things, for his honor.

Thus we see, not only what additional obligaticris believers
are under to love God with all their hearts, but also how, and
in what manner, they influence and excite them so to do : and
what I have offered effectually obviates the common plea of

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 80

formalists and all self-seekeics, That all the saints in scripture
are represented as loving God for his benefits ; whence they ar-
gue, that they are right, and their religion genuine, \vhich results
merely from self-love, and the fear of hell, and hope of heaven,
or from a confident persuasion that their sins are pardoned;
For it is evident, that true sain.ts do not love God for his hene-
fits, nor eye their own happiness, in tlie same nianner that such
men do ; but in a manner altogether different. Saints know the
Ood they love, and love him, primarily, for what he is in him-
self, and because he is just what he is : But hypocrites know
not God, nor love him ; but are, in all things, contrary to him,
and are only pleased with the false image of God they have
framed in their fancies, merely because they think that he loves
them, and has done, and will do, great things for th?m. Saints
are affected with the divine goodness. itself, for, the iTvpral beauty
there is in it ; but hypocrites are affected only with the fruits
and effects of divine goodness tathem, as tending to make them
happy. Saints love God for his benefits, under a real sense of
their infinite unworthiness of the least of them ; but so it is not
with liN-pocrites. Saints love God for all the streams of di-
vine goodness, because they are designed, and actually do lead
them up to God, the fountain, who is the portion of their souls :
But hypocrites live upon the streams, disrelishing the fountain.
Saints love God, dearly, for all his gifts, becavi3e by them thev
are put under such advantages to live to God, to pron^otc his
interest and honor, and to do good in the world ; but hypocrites
are confined within thr narrow cii cle, self The Ipvc of s3.^nts to
God animates them to live to God, and to exert themselves to
promote his honor and interest, and to do all the good they can :
but the hypocrite, after all his pretended love to God, cares not
what becomea of his interest and honor, if it may but go w cU
with him, his friends and party : So that, while true saints lo\e
God for his benefits, they act, in a ^rocvfj^/v manner, conforma-
ble to the law df God, and to the reason and nature of things ;
whereas, all the love of the nv)st refined hypocrite is naerely
th.e woi'kings of a natural self-lo\e, in a manner directly contra-

90 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

r}' to the law of God, and to the reason and nature of things ;
and is nothing but mere mockery... .Pia/wz Ixxviii. 34, 35, 36,
37 — Zech.vu.S,e.

Thus we ha^'e gone through the two first general heads^ and
see rvhat is implied in love to God^ 'aw^frovi what motives rve
ought to love him : And, from the whole, we may learn so much
of the nature of true religion, as that, with much evidence and
certainty, we may conclude,

' First, That all that seeming love to God is counterfeit^ •which
arises merehjfrom merCs corruptions beiiig gratified : As when
ambitious men are, by God's providence, raised to high degrees
of honor, and worldly men are prospered in all which ihey put
their hands unto, and herefrom the one and the other rejoice
and bless God, and seem to love him, and verily think they are
sincere : This is all hypocrisy ; for, in truth, they only love
their corruptions, and are glad they are gratified. And accor-
dingly, instead of improving all their riches and honor for God,
to advance his interest and honor in the world, they improve
all only for themselves, to promote their own ends ; and care
not what becomes of God's honor, and interest, and kingdom ;
and commonly such men shew themselves the greatest enemies
to the cause of God, and to the religion of Christ : and should
God but touch all they have^ they would curse him to his face.

Secondly, We may be equally certain, that all that seeming
love to God is counterfeit^ that arises merely from a legal^ self-
righteous spirit • As when a man, only because he is afraid of
hell, and has a mind to be saved, sets himself to repent, and re-
form, and do duties, and tries to love God and aim at his glory,
to the intent that he may make some amends for past sins and
recommend himself to the divine favor, and so to escape hell
and obtain heaven : And when he has grown so good, as to
have raised hopes of attaining his end, he is ravished at the
thoughts, and rfjoices, and blesses the Lord, and loves him.
It is plain all this is hypocrisy : for the man, in truth, only loves
himself, and is concerned merely for his own interest ; but does
not care at all for God, his glory or honor ; for, if there

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 91

were no heaven nor hell, such would serve God no more. Chil-
dren will work for their parents, without being hired, because
they love them : but hirelings will not strike a stroke if there is
no money to be gotten ; because they care for nothing but their
own interest : Hence this sort of hypocrites are wont to say,
that if they once believed that God had made no promises to
the best the>' can do, they would never do more. And fai^ther,
it is plainly all hvpocrisv ; for, if their consciences but fall asleep,
so that they are troubled no more with the thoughts of another
world, they will leave off their duties, let down their watch,
break all their resolutions, and be as bad as ever : and hence
their doctrine of falling from grace probably took its rise. And
their hypocrisj' is still more evident, in thai ihey are common*
ly so much concerned to find out what the least measure of sa-
ving grace is, and so strenuous in pleading for great abatements
in the law : for, from hence, it is plain, that all they are after
is only to get just grace enough to carry them to hea\'en ; as a
lazy hireling, who is for doing but only just work enough to
pass for a day's work, that he may get his wages at night,
which is all he wants.

Thirdly, We may be as certain, that, all that seeming love
is counterfeit ^xvh'ich arises merely from a strong confcknce which
a man has^ that his sins are pardoned^ and that Christ loves hirn^
andtoill save him : As when a man is under great terrors, and
has fearful apprehensionsof hell anddamnation,and is ready even
to give himself up for lost : but suddenl}' gi-eat light breaks in-
to his mind ; he sees Christ with his arms open and smiling, and it
may be his blood running, and hears him, as it were, say, Be
of good cheer, thy sins areforgiven thee.... I have loved thee with
an everlasting lovc....Come^ thou blessed of my Father^ inherit the
kingdom ; — and uow he is certain tb.at his sins are pardoned,
and that heaven is his, and he is even ravished with jov, and
calls upon all to praise the Lord : For all this proceeds mei-ely
from self-love, and there is no love to God in it : for all this
love arises from his false confidcrnce, and not from any true
knowledge of God ; and commonly such turnout as the Israel-

92 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ites did, who sang God^s praise at the Red-Sea, when Pharaoh
and his hosts were drowned, and they delivered, and their hopes
of getting to Canaan highly raised ; but thei/ soonforgat his
xvorks^ and rebelled against him, and dieir carcases fell in the
wilderness. They loved themselves^ and therefore they rejoi-
ced at their wonderful deliverance ; they loved themsek es^
and therefore they murmured three days after, when thev came
to the bitter waters : Their joys and their murmurings pro-
teeded from the very same principle, under different circum-
stances ; but the love of God was not in them : and just this is
the case here. And this is commonlv the event, that, the fears
of hell being now over, their joys gradually abate, and they
grow more and more secure, till, after a while, they return to
folly, as the dog to his vomit, and as the sow that was washed
to her wallowing in the mire ; and so are as bad, and sometimes
worse than e\ier....(II. Pet. ii. 20, 21, 22.) And now they
plead, that the best are dead sometimes, and that David and Pe-
ter had their falls ; and so keep their consciences as quiet as
they can : and thus they live along v/hole months and years to-
gether.

Fourthly, and lastly, We may also be certain, that all that
seeming love to God^ivhich arises merehj fromthe gratification of
spiritual pride ^ is counterfeit : As when men dream dreams, see
visions, and hear voices, and have impressions and revelations
whereby they are set up in their ov/n esteem, and in the opinion
of others, for some of the most peculiar favorites of heaven, and
veiy best men in all the world ; and hence they rejoice, and
bless God and mightily love him : but, in truth, they are only
ravished with self-conceit, and feel blessedly to thuik themselves
some of the best men in the world, and to think they shall short-
ly sit at the right hand of Christ in heaven, among the apostles
and martvrs, v, hile their persecutors and haters will be burning
in hell ; but they neither know God nor love him ; and, for the
most part, by heretical doctrines, or wicked li\'es, or both, are a
scandal to religion : These are so far from being trul}' religious,
that theif are the very tarea xvhich the devil soxvs.,. .Mat. xiii. 39.

DISTINGUIdHKB !• ROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 93

In each of these sorts of love there are these three defects or
faults : — (1.) They have no true hiorvle^gc o( God ; and so (2.)
they only love themselves ; and (.3.) then- seeming love to God
arises from a mistake. The amintious and worldly man thinks
himself very happy, because he rises in honor and estate ; the
lepjjlist thinks that God loves him, and v, ill save him for his
duties ; the next lirmlv believes that his sins are pardoned ; and
the last, that Ciod looks upon him one of the best men in the
world ; but all are wofully mistaken ; and w hen, at the day of
judtyment, they come to see their mistake, their love to God will
vanish away, and they turn everlasting haters and blasphemers
of the most High. And another defect in these and all
other sorts of counterfeit love, is, that they none of them will
ever make men truly odedient : for when men's seeming to love
God is nothing but self-love in another shape, all their seeming
obedience will, in reality, be nothing but self-seeking : They
may pretend to be the sen'ants of God, but will only mean, ul-
timately, to serve themselves.

SECTION III.

CONCERNING THE MEASURE OF LOVE TO GOD REqUIHED IN
THE DIVINE LAV.'.

I proceed now to the next thing proposed, which was,
III. To show xt'A^/^ is that measure of love to God^ xvhich the
laxv requires of all mankind. — And our blessed Savior clears up
this point in the most plain and familiar language : — Tliciishait
love the Lord thy God^ xvith all thy heart., and xvith all thy son/.,
andxvith all thy mind ; and it is added, in Mark xii. 30, With all
thy strength ; i. e. in other words, we ought to love God in a
measure exactly proportionable to the largeness of our natural
powers and faculties ; which to do, is all that perfection whicii
God c\er rcx^uired of any of his creatures.'*

• The law runs thus : TJmiu shah love the Lord thy GjJ with all th\
heart, i^cc. and thy neighbor as tbysdf. God is to have the highest degree ot
love \vc arc capable of ; but a viiich less degree is due to ourselves and neigh-
bors : So that, according to the tenor (>f the law, our love to God is to bs
greater and vuire Jciveiit, thnw our luve to ourselves. And therefore the
Irw does »u])]>ose iliAt God is wonhj- of our su|<rcni<i love for w h»t he is

94 TRUE RKLIGION DKLIN EATEl.', AND

When the law requires us to love God with all our hearts^ it
either means, to the utmiost extent oi' our nuiv.ra! capacity, or
else only to the utmost extent of our moral capacity ; i. e. only
so much as v/e are inclined to : And then the less we are incli-
ned to love God, the less love is required ; and so, if we have
no heart, no inclination to love him, then nolcve at all is requi-
red : And, according to this rule, the carnal mind, which is
enmity against God, is not in diity bound X.o be subject to the
law, neither indeed can be : And where there is no law, there is
no transgression j — where there is no duty required, there can
be no sin committed : and so the vilest of mortals are the freest
from sin, and the least to blame ; which is the grossest absurdity.
AVhen, therefore, the law requires us to love God with all our
hearts^ it has no reference to our moral inclination^ but only to
our natural capaciiy : And indeed nothing can be more unrea-
sonable, than to suppose that the law only requires us to love
God so far as we have a heart and disposition to do so ; for
this would leave us entirely at liberty to do otherwise, if we
were so inclined, and, in effect, it w^ould make the law say, If
you feel inclined to love God^ more or less^ so far it is ijoiir duty^
but farther you arc not bowid^ but are at your liberty ; i. e. the
law is not binding, any farther than you are inclined to obey it ;
/. e. in reality it is no law, but every man is left to do as he plea-
ses : The whole hearty therefore, does the law mean to require,
let our temper, inclination, or disposition be v»^hat it will.

Ciod, the great author of all tilings, has been pleased to create
intelligent beings of different sizes, some of a higher rank, and
some of a lower — some of greater capacities, and some of less...,

in himself, antecedent to any selfish consideration, from a sight and sense
of whicii ivcrth'u'.ess our love to God is primarily to take its rise : For, in
the nature of things, it would he impossible for us, from self-love, to love
^oAtiiore than ourselves. ...Or thus, the law requires us to love God wore
than ourselves ; but, in the nature of things, it is impossible that merely
from self-love we should love God more than ourselves : therefore the law
supposes that there is something in God to excite our love, antecedent to
any selfish consideration, and that our love to him is not to proceed mere-
ly from self-love : For, otherwise, the law requires us to do that which in
its own nature is absolutely impossible. ...And this, by the way, may serve
still farther to confirm the truth of what has been before said.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 95

some are angels, and some are men j and among the angels
some are of larger natural powers, and some of smaller. So it
is among the good angels, and so it is among the e\ il angels :
There are angels and arch-angels, i. e. beings of various natu-
ral powers and capacities, among the good and bad : And so
it is among men — among good and bad, there is a \ery great
variety — some have larger souls than others.

Intelligent beings are capable of a degree of knowledge and
love, exactly proportionable to their natural powers. Angels
are capable of a degree of knowledge and love, greater than men,
and one man of a greater degree than another. As they are of
difFerentsizes....of larger and smaller natural powers, so their
capacities to know and love are some greater, and some less :
So it is among good and bad.

All that perfection which God requires of any of his creatures,
is a measure of knowledge and love bearing an exact proportio7i
to their natural abilities. Since God has manifested what he
is, in his works and ways, and since he is infinitely glorious in
being what he is, and has an original and entire right to his in-
telligent creatures ; therefore he requires all angels and men to
attend diligently to the discoveries which he has made of himself,
and learn what he is, and behold his glor)', and love him with all
their hearts ; This is the extent of what God requires of the
highest angel in heaven, and this is exactly what he reqiiires of
all the children of men upon earth.

The law requires no more than this of mankind, under a no-
tion tiiat their natural powers are lessened by the fall. ^Vhether
we are beings of as large natural powers as we should have l-een,
had we never apostatized from God, or no, yet this is plain, we
are no where in sciipture blamed for having no larger natural
powers, nor is any more ever required than all the hearty and all
the soul^ and all the )?iind,7xnd all the strength : This is eviclefiL
through the whole Bible.

And the law requires /zc/c'wof mankind, undera notion that they
are turned enemies to God, and have no heart or inclination to
iove him. Be itso, thatmankind are ever so averse to attend to

O

96 TRf £ RELIGION DELINEATED, AN»

thosemanifestatlons which God has made of himself, and ever so
averse to take in rightnotionsofGod,and eversofarfrom adispo-
sition to account him infinitely glorious in being what he is, and
fromaninclinationtolovehimwithalltheir hearts; vet the divine
law makes no allowances. ...no abatements ; but insists upon the
same. ..the very same it ever did : — Thoushaltlove the Lord thy
God ruith all thy heart.

Indeed, some do dream that the law is very much abated :
But what saith the scriptures as to this point ? Does the word
of God teach us that there is any abatement made ? Where do
we read it ? Where is it plainly asserted, or in what texts is it
implied ? Truly, I know nothing like it in all the Bible, nor what
text of scripture this notion can be built upon : and besides, if
the law is abated, when was is abated ? Was it abated immedi-
ately upon Adam's full? Surely no ; for, above two thousand
years after, from Mount Sinai, God declared that he required
sinless perfection, and threatened a curse against the man that
should fail in the least TpomU. ..Exod. xx. — Deut. xxvii. 26. —
Was it abated upon Christ's coming into the world ? Surely no ;
for he, in the strongest terms, taught his disciples that it was in
full force, and that it was their duty to be perfectly holy, and
that in designed opposition to the doctrine of the Pharisees,
who, in effect, held that the law was abated.... M/^ v. 17 — 48.
Was it abated after Christ's death and resurrection ? Surely
no; for St. Paul always taught that the Christian scheme of reli-
gion, which he preached, did not make void, but rather estab-
lished the \2L\Y....Rom. iii. 31 — and St. James insisted upon it,
that it must not be broken in any one ^o'lnt.... James ii. 10. —
When was it abated therefore ? W^hy, savs Christ, Till heaven
and earth shall pass axvay., one jot or tittle of the knu shall in fio
rvise faiI....7A-CLi. v. 18. And besides, if the law is abated, in
zbliat particidar is it abated, and/i<3ry great are the abatements ?
— Are there any abatements made in our duty to God ? Surely
no ; for we are still required to love hira with all our hearts,
and more than this never was demanded : Or are any abate-
Bients made m our dat\" to our fellow-men ? Surely no ; for we

JJISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTKRTEITS. ^7

arc still required to love our neighbor as ourselves, and morfr
than this never was enjoined : Or is there any abatement made
in the internal part of our duty ? Surely no ; for the whole heart
is still required, and more than this never was insisted upon :
Or, finally, is diere any abaten^ent made in the external part of
our duty ? Surely no ; for we are still required to be/io!y in all
viatmer of conversation^ as he that has called us is holt/^ (I. Pet.
i. 15.) and more than this was never required : So that, from
the whole, we have as much reason to think that the lav/ requires
sinless perfection /Tcrt', as that ever it did : yea, this point can-
not be plainer than it is ; for the law, in fact, is the ver\' same
k was from the beginning, word for word, without the leat alte-
ration : — Thoii shall love the Lord thy God ivith all thy hearty
&c. and thy neighbor as thyself; so that, if it ever did require
sinless perfection,^ it does now.

The highest pitch of holiness, the saints in heaven will ever
arrive to, will onl) be to love God with a// their hearts ; and ex-
actly the very same is required of every man upon earth: And
it was because St. Paul understood the law in this sense, that
he had always such a mean and low opinion of all his attain-
ments ; for, while he compared what he Wrt.?, with what he
ought to be^ he plainly saw how the case stood : and therefore
he says, The knv is spiritjcaly but lam carnal^ sold under sin....
0 wretched man that lam /...Rom. vii. 14, 24.

So that, upon the whole, thi^ seems to be the true state of the
case : — as there are various capacities among all intelligent crea-
tures in general, so there are among men, in particular, souls of
various sizes. ...some of larger natural capacities, and some of
smaller ; but souls of different capacities, are capable ofdilTerent
degrees of love. A degree of love exactlj- equal to the natural
capacity of the soul, is perfection : and this is what the law re-
quires, nor more nor less; — r/// the heart, <^///the soul, a// the mind,
rt//the strength. The saints and angels in heaven love God
thus, and hence they are perfect in holiness ; and, so far as we
fall short of this, we are sinful : This is the exact rule of duty.
And now, this law is holy^Just^-dnd good. The thing required

98 TRUE RELIGION DELIKEATED, AND

quired, is, in its own nature, right, fit, and suitable. God is
worthy to be loved with all our hearts, and this is just what is
required. It is right we should have a degree of love to our-
selves, and it is right we should love our neighbors as ourselves i
but it is fit we should love God with all our hearts : Consider-
ing what he is, and what we are, it is, in its own nature, infinite*
ly fit and right ; and not to do so, infinitely unfit and wrongi
Indeed, God is worthy of an infinitely greater degree of love
tliaii v.e, or any of his creatures, are capable of. He only is
capable of a complete view of his own infinite glon', and of a full
sense of his o%\-n infinite beauty, and of a love perfectly adequate
to his own loveliness : and he does not require or expect any
of his creatures to love him to that degree he loves himself ;
only, as he loves himself with all his heart, so he requires and
expects that they love him with all their hearts : And there be-
ing the same reason for one as for the other, the law is, there-
fore, in its own nature, perfectly right, and just, and equal. In-
deed, had God required the most exalted of his intelligent crea-
tures to have loved him in the same degree that he himself does,
llien tlie thing required would, in its own nature, have been ab-
solutelv impossible, and what he could have no reason to expect :
Or, ifhe had required the meanest of his intelligent creatures to
havelovedhimin the samedegreethaX Gabriel does, it would hav«f
been a thing naturally impossible; but now he only requires
ever}' one to love him with all their hearts, this is r/^Af....perfect-
\y right, just, and equal. Less than this could not, injustice,
have been required of each one ; injustice, I mean, to the Deity,
who ought to have his due from each one, and whose proper
right the Governor of the world ought to assert and maintain.

Thus we see the la^v is exactly upon a level with our natiircd
capacities ; it only requires us to love God with all our hearts r
and thus we see, that the law is, therefore, perfectly reasonable,
just, and equal. Deut. x. 12....Anduovj, Israel, rvhat doth the
Lord thy God require of thee, hit to fear the Lord thy God, to
xvalk in all his loays, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy
God with ALL thy heart, and zviffi all thy soul ?

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 99

Hence, as to a natural capacity, all mankind are capable of
a perfect conformity to this law ; for the law requires of no man
any more than to love God with all his heart. The sinning
angels have the same Jiatural capacities now, as they had Ijcforc
they fell ; they have the ssLine faculties^ called the understanding
and xoill — they are still the same beings, as to their /2rtfi/;a/ pow-
ers. Once they loved God with all their hearts ; and now they
hate him with all their hearts : Once they had a great degree
of love ; jiow they have as great a degree of hatred ; — so that
.they have the same natural capacities now as ever. Their
temper^ indeed, is different ; but their capacittj is the same ; and,
therefore, as to a natural capacity^ they are as capable of a per-
fect conformity to the law of their Creator as ever they were.
So, Adam, after his fall, had the same soul that he had before,
as to its natural capacities^ though of a very different temper ;
and, therefore, in that respect, was as capable of a perfect con-
formity to this law, as ever. And it is plainlv the case, that all
mankind, as to their natural capacities, are capable of a perfect
confomnity to the law, Irom this^ that when sinners are convert-
ed they have no new natural faculties, though they have a ncro
temper : and when they come to love God with all their hearts
in heaven, still they will have the same hearts^ as to their 7?^/^?/-
ra/ faculties, and may, in this respect, be justly looked upon as
the very same beings. In this sense, Paul was the same man
when he hated and persecuted Christ, as when he loved him and
died for him : and that saine heart ih^A. was once so full of mal-
ice, is now as full of love : So that, as to his nr/??<rrt/ capacities,
he was as capable of a perfect conformity to this law, when he
was a persecutor, as he is now in heaven. When, therefore,
men cry out against the holy law of God, which requires us only
to love him with all our hearts^ and say, " It is noi just for God
*' to require more than we crm do, and then threaten to damn
*' us for not doing," they ought to stay a while, and consider
what they say, and tell what.thcy mean by their can do ; for
it is plain, th:'L the law is exactly upon a level with our natural
capacities, and iltat, in ttiis respect, we drefidli/ capable of a per- .

100 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

feet conformity thereto : And it will be impossible for us to
excuse ourselves by an inability arising from any other quarter ;
as will presently appear : For, to return,

From what has been said, we may learn, that there can be
nothing to render it, in any measure, a hard and difficult thing,
to love God with all our hearts, but our being destitute of -a
right temper of mind, and having a temper that is ti-rong : and
that, therefore, we are perfectly inexcusable^ and altogether and
"wholly to blame^ that we do not.

Obj. But I do not blow God ; how^thereforeyCanl lovehim ?

Ans. Were you of a right temper^ it would be your r.ature^
above all things, to attend to those discoveries which he has
made of himself in his works and in his word ; you would search
for the knowledge of him, as men search for silver, and as they
dig for hidden treasure : and, were you of a right temper^ it
would be natural to take in that very representation which God
has made of himself: And now, was it but your nature to at-
tend, with all your heart, to the discoveries which God has made
of himself... and your nature to take in right notions of him, it
would be impossible but that yovi should know xvhat God is ; be-
cause he has acted oiit all his perfections so much to the life, and
exhibited such an exact image of himself. The works of crea-
tion and redemption, and all his conduct as moral Governor of
the world, shew just what kind of Being he is : He has discov-
ered his infinite understanding and almighty power, and he has
shown the temper of his heart ; and all in so plain a manner,
that, were it your nature to attend and consider, and take in
right notions, it is quite impossible but that you should knovr
and see plainly what God is.

Obj. But if I have right notions of what God is^yet J cannot
see his glory and beauty in being such ; hoiv^ therefore^ can Hove
him ?

Ans. Were you of a right temper^ it would be your nature to
account him infinitely glorious in being what he is. As it is the
nature of an ambitious man to see a gloiy in applause, and of
a worldly man to see a glory in the things of the world, so it

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 101

would be your nature to see a glory in God ; for what suits oiu*
hearts,naturally appears excellent in oureyes. {^ohn viii. 42,47.)

Obj. But I feci that I cannot love him ; hoWy therefore^ am I
wholly to blame ?

Ans. The fault is in him, or in you : Either he is not love-
ly, or else you are of a very bad temper : but he is infinittly
lovely ; and therefore it is only o^ving to the b;id temper ot yovir
heart, and to your being destitute of a right temper, that \ou
cannot love him ; and you, therefore, are wholly to blame : In-
deed you could not but love him, were you not a ver)- sordid
>vretch.

Obj. But to love God^ or to have any dispositon to love h'nn^i^
a tiling SUPERNATURAL, clcon beyond the powers cfnature^ im-
proved to the utmost : how can /, thevffore^he wholly to blame?

Ans. It is a thing supernatural yo\i say ; /. e. in other words,
you have no heart to it^ nor the least inclination that way ; nor
is there any thing in your temper to work upon by moti\es to
bring you to it ; and now, because you are so very bad a crea-
ture, Uierefore you are not at all to blame : I'his is your argu-
ment : But can you think that there is any force in it ? What !
are moral agents the less to blame the worse Uiey grow ? And
are God's laws no longer binding, than while his subjects arc
disposed to obey them ?

Obj. Buty after all^ I must needs reply ^ as Nicodemus in
another case^ How can these things be ?

Ans. ^Vliy did not the Jews love their prophets, and love
Christ and his apotles ? What was it owing to ? And where did
the blame lie ? They were acquainted with them. ...heard them
talk and preach, and saw their conduct, and could not but plain-
ly j>erceive their temper, and know what sort of disposition they
were of, and what sort of men they were ; and yet they did not
like them ; but they hated them — they belied them, slandered
and reproached them, and put them to death : And no\v^ what
>vas the matter ? What was the cause of all this ? Were not
their prophets, and Christ and his apostles indeed lovt■l^■, and
worthy of their hearty esteem ? Did not all iliat they said and did

102 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

manifest them to be so? Why, then, did they not love them ?
— Was it not wholly owing to their not having a right temper
of mind, and to their being of so bad a disposition ? And were
they not wholly to blame ? — They might say of Christ, That
they could see no form nor comeliness in him^ wherefore they
sliuld desire him ; and where no beauty is seen, it is impossible
there should be any love : But whv did not he appear most
amiable in their eyes ? And why were their hearts not ravish-
ed with his beauty ? — His disciples loved him, and Martha and
Mary and Lazarus loved him ; and why did not the Scribes and
Fharisees love him as much ? — Why, because his person and
doctrines did not suit them, and were not agi-eeable to the tern'
per of their hearts. The bad temper of their hearts made him
appear odious in their eyes, and was the cause of all their ill-
will towards him : And now, were they not to blame for thia
bad temper, and for all dieir bad feelings, and bad carriage to-
wards Christ, thence arising ? Yes, surely, if ever any men were
to blame for any thing. And now, if God, the father, had been
in the same circumstances as God, the son, was then in, he
would not have been loved a jot more, or treated a whit better
than he was : Indeed it was that image and resemblance of the
infinitely glorious and blessed God, which was to be seen in
their prophets — in Christ and his apostles, which was the very
thing they hated him for : Therefore Christ says. He that ha-
teth me^ hatcth my Father also. ...But now have they both seen and
hated^ both me and my Father. ...^ohn xv. 23, 24. And Christ
attributes it entirely to their want of a right temper, and to the
bad disposition of their hearts, that they did not love him, and
love his doctrines. If God were your father^ ijou woidd love me....
John viii. 42. He that is of God (of a God-like temper) hear-
eth God''s words : ye^ therefore^ hear than not^ because ye are not
cfGod^ (Ver. 47.) In truth, the bottom of all your enmity is,
that you are of your father^ the devil^ i. e. of just such a temper
as he, (Ver. 44.) And now, what think you, whAi Christ comei
in flaiaing fire, to take vengeance on an ungodly world ? Will he
blame the Scribes and Fharisees for not loving hinj with all their

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 103

hearts, or no ? Or will he excuse the matter, and say, on their
bthalf, Tliey could see no form nor comeliness in ine.... I appear-
vdvery odious to them,.., they could not love me.. ..they could not
but hateme, and no man is to blame for not doin^ 7nore than he

CAN ?

From the whole, it is plain that mankind are to blame, whol-
ly to blame, and perfectly inexcusable, for their not having right
apprehensions of God, and for their not having a sense of his
gloiy in being what he is, and for their not loving him with all
their heart ; because all is owing merely to their want of a right
temper, and to the bad disposition of their hearts.

Indeed, if we were altogether of such a temper, frame, and
disposition of heart as we ought to be, it would be altogether
as easy and natural to love God with all our hearts, as it is for
the most dutiful child to love a tender and valuable parent : For
God is really infinitely amiable ; and were we of such a temper,
he would appear so in our eyes ; and did he appear so in our
eyes, we could not but love him with all our hearts, and delight
in him with all our souls ; and it would be most easy and natu-
ral so to do ; for no man ever found any diflficulty in loving that
which appears very amiable in his eyes : For the proof of which
I appeal to the experience of all mankincL And now, why does
not God appear infinitely amiable in our eyes ? Is it because
he has not clearly revealed zvhat he is, in his works and in his
word ? Surely no ; for the revelation is plain enough. Is it
because he is not infinitely amiable in being what he is ? Surely
no ; for all heaven are ravished with his infinite beauty. What
is it, then, that makes us blind to the infinite excellency of the
divine nature ? Wiiy, it can be ov.'ing to nothing but a bad tem-
per of mind in us, and to our not being of such a temper as
we ought to be. For I appeal to the experience of all mankind^
whether those persons and things which suit the temper of their
hearts, do not natunilly appear amiable in their eyes : And
cei-tainly, if God does not suit the temper of our hearts, it is
not owing to any fault in liim, but the fault must be wholly in
ourselves. If the temper and disposition of God (i. e, his mojv

P

104 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

al perfections,) be not agreeable to our temper and disposition,
most certainly our temper and disposition are very wrong. If
God -were your father, ye would love me ; but z/e are of your
father the devil, therefore ye hate rc\t.....{yohn viii. 42, 44.) i. e.
" If you were of a temper like God, ye would love me ; but be-
ing of a contrar}^ temper, hence you hate me. If you were of
a right temper, I should appear amiable unto you ; and it is
wholly owing to your bad temper, that I appear otherwise. If
ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the xvorks of Abraham.''^
....(verse 39.)

Ob J. But be it so, yet I cannot help being of such a temper as
lam of ; how, therefore, am Izvholly to blame ?

Ans. You have as much power to help being of such a tem-
per, as the scribes and Pharisees had ; but Christ judged them
to be wholly to blame, and altogether inexcusable. They could
not like Christ or his doctrine : Te cannot hear my word, says
Christ, (verse A2>') ; but their cannot.... their inability, was no
excuse to them in Christ's account, because all their inability,
he plainly sav/, arose from their bad temper, and their want of
a good disposition. And, although they had no more power
to help being of such a temper than you have, yet he judged
them wholly to blame, and altogether inexcusable, (jfolin viii.
2>'i — i^7....yohn XV. 22 — 25.) And now we know, that hisjudg-
?nent is according to truth. But, in order to help you to see in-
to the reason of the thing, I desire you seriously and impartial-
ly to consider,

1. T)ci2it sinners are free arid voluntary in their bad temper.
A wicked world have discovered a very strong disposition to
hate God, even from the beginning : And the Jewish nation,
God's own peculiar people, of whom, if of any, we might hope
for better things, were so averse to God and his ways, that they
hated and murdered the messengers which he sent to reclaim
them, and, at last, even murdered God's own Son. And now,
whence was all this ? Why, from the exceeding bad and wick-
ed temper of their hearts. They have hated me without a cause
....John XV. 25. But did any body force them to be of such a

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 105

bad temper ? Surely no ; they were heartif in it. Were they
of such a bad temper against their xui I la ? Surely no; their
wills. ...then- hearts were in it : Yea, they loved their bad tem-
per, and loved to gratify it, and hence were mightily pleased
with their false prophets, because they always prophesied in
their favor, and stated and gratiftd their disposition : and
they hated v/hatsocver w^s disagreeable \.o their bad temper, and
tended to cross it ; and hence were they so enraged at the
preaching and the persons of their pro}ihets....of Christ and his
apostles ; so that they were manifestly voluntarij and hearty in
•their bad temper. We have loved strangers^ and after them zve
•wiLL^o....Jer. ii. 25. But as for the xuord ruhich thou hast
spoken unto vs in the name of the Lord, zve will not hearken
unto thee....] &Y. xliv. 16. And the Lord God of their fathers
sent to them by his messengers., risiiig vp betimes, and sending ;
because he had compassion on his people, and on his dxuelliiig-
place : but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his
words, and misused his prophets, &C....II. Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16.
And so, all wicked men are as voluntary in their bad temper
as they were. The temper of the mind is nothing but the ha-
bitual inclination of the heart : but an involuntary incHnatio7i of
the heart is a contradiction ; And the stronger any inclination
is, the more full and free the heart and soul is in the thing.
Hence the bad temper, or the habitual bad inclination of the de-
vil is at the faithest distance from any compulsion — ^he is most
perfectly free and hearty in it : And all sinful creatures being
thus voluntary, free, and hearty in the bad temper of their
minds ; or, in other words, the bad temper of the mind being-
nothing but the habitual inclination of the heart, hence all must
be to blame in a degree equal to the sti-ength of their bad incli-
nation. In a word, if we were continually yorcc^ to be of such
a bad temper, entirely against our roills, then we should not be
to blame ; for it w^ould not be at all the temper of our hearts :
but so long as our bad temper is nothing else but the habitual
frame, disposition, and inclination of our own hkarts, without
-any manner of compulsion, we are perfectly without excuse,

106 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

and that whether we can help being of such a temper, or no.
For,

2. If a sinful creature's not beiftg able to help his being of a
bad temper^ does in the least free him from blame ; then the more
vile and sinful any creature grows ^ the less to blame will he be :
because the more vile and sinful any creature grows, the less
able is he to help his being of so bad a frame of heart ; Thus,
if a man feels a bad spirit towards one of his neighbors creep-
ing into his heart, perhaps if he immediately resists it, he may
be able easily to overcome and suppress it ; but if he gives way
to it, and suffers it to take strong hold of his heart.. ..if he cher-
ishes it until it grows up into a settled enmity, and keeps it in
his heart for twenty years, seeking all opportunities to gratify it
by backbiting, defaming, &c. it will now, perhaps, be clean out
of his power to get rid of it, and effectually root it out of his
heart : It will, at least, be a veiy difficult thing. Now, the man
is talked to and blamed for backbiting and defaming his neigh-
bor, time after time, and is urged to love his neighbor as him-
self, but he says he cannot love him : But why cannot you ? For
other men love him. Why^ he appears in my eyes the most odious
and hateful man in the world. Yes, but that is owing to your
own bad temper : Well, but I cannot help iny temper^ and there'
fore 1 am not to blame. Now, it is plain, in this case, how weak
the man's plea is ; and even common sense will teach all man-
kind to judge him the more vile and blame-worthy, by how
much the more his grudge is settled and rooted : And yet the
more settled and rooted it is, the more unable is he to get rid of
it. And just so it is here : Suppose a creature loved God with
all his heart, but after a while begins to feel his love abate, and
an aversion to God secretly creeping into his soul ; now, per-
haps, he might easily suppress and overcome it ; But if he gives
way to it, until he loses all sense of God's glory, and settles into
a state of enmity against him, it may be quite impossible ever
to recover himself : And yet he is not the less, but the more
vile, and so the more blame-worthy. If, then, we are so averse
to God that we cannot love him ; and if our bad temper is so

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERTEITS. 107

strong, so settled and rooted that we cannot get rid of it, this is
so far from being matter of excuse for us, that it renders us so
much the more vile, guilty, and hell-deserving ; for to suppose
that our inability, in this case, extenuates our fault... .our inabili-
ty which increases in proportion to our badness, is to suppose
that the worse any sinner grows, the less to blame he is ;— than
which, nothing can be more absurd.

Ob J. But Ixuas brought into this state by Adam^sfall*
Ans. Let it be by Adam's fall, or how it vviU, yet if you arc
an enemy to the infinitely glorious God, your ^laker, and that
voluntarily, you are infinitely to blame, and without excuse ;
for nothing can make it right for a creature to be a voluntary
enemy to his glorious Creator, or possibly excuse such a crime :
It is, in its own nature, infinitely wrong — there is nothing, there-
fore, to be said — you stand guilty btfoi-c God : It is in vain to
make this or anv other pleas, so long as we arc what we are, not
by compulsion, but voluntarily : And it is in vain to pretend
that we are not voluntary in our corruptions, when ihey are
nothing else but the free, spontaneous inclinations of our own
hearts. Since this is the case, every mouth xvill be stopped ^and
all the -world become gvilty before God^ sooner or later.

Thus we see, that, as to a natural capacity, all mankind are
capable of a perfect conformity to God's law, which requires us
only to love God with all our hearts ; and that ail our inability
arises merely from the bad temper of our hearts, and our want
of a good disposition ; and that, therefore, we are wholly to
blame and altogether inexcusable. Our impotency, in one
word, is not natural^ but moral, and, therefore, instead o{ exten-
uating^ does magnify and enhance our fault. The more umjble
to love God we are, the mere arc xve to blame : Even as it was
with the Jews. ...the greater contrariety there was in their hearts,
to their prophets.. ..to Christ and his apostles, the more vile and
blame-worLhy were they.* And in this light do the scriptures

• Ob J. But, says a secure sinner, surely there /* r.n contra/ iety in my heart
to God, I never bated God in mv life ; / ijAoiTV* i'fi^td him .

Ans. The Svibes and Pharisees verily tliought that they lov.d God, and
that, if they had lived in ihe dajs of their fathcri, thcj would not have put

108 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

constantly view the case. There is not one tittle in the Old
Testament or in the New....inthelaworinthe gospel, that gives
the least intimation of any deficiency in our naturfil faculties. —
The law requires no more than all our hearts, and never blames
us for not having larger natural capacities. The gospel aims
to recover us to love God only with all our hearts, but makes
no provision for our having any new natural capacity ; — as to
our natural capacities, all is well : It is in our temper, in the
frame and disposition of our hearts, that the seat of all our sin-
fulness lies. Ezek. xii. 2 So7i ofmah^ thou dwellest in the

■midst of a rebellious hoJise^ which have eyes to see, and see not...,
they have ea7's to hear, and hear not, for they area rebellious
house. This is the bottom of the business : We have eyes to
see, and ears to hear, and his glory shines all around us, in the
heavens and in the earth... .in his word and in his ways ; and his
name is proclaimed in our ears ; and there is nothing hinders
our seeing and hearing, but that we are rebellious creatures. —
Our contrariety to God makes us blind to the beauty of the di-
vine nature, and deaf to all his commands, counsels, calls, and
invitations. We might know God, if we had a heart to know
him ; and love God, if we had a heart to love him. It is noth-
ing but our bad temper and being destitute of a right disposition
that makes us spiritually blind and spiritually dead. If this
h&2LYtoi stone was but away, and a heart oijlesh was but in us, all

the Prophets to death. They were altogether insensible of the perfect con-
trariety of their hearts to the divine nature. And whence was it ? Why,
they had wrong notions of the divine Being, and they loved that false image
which they had framed in their own fancies ; and so they had wrong no-
tions of the Prophets which their fathers hated and murdered, and hence
imagined that they should have loved ihem : But they saw a little what a
temper and disposition Christ was of, and him they hated with a perfect
hatred. So there are multitudes of secure sinners and self-deceived hypo-
crites, who verily think they love God; nevertheless, as soon as ever they
open their eyes in eternity, and see just what God is, their love will vanish,
and their enmity break out and exert itself to perfection. So that the rea-
son sinners see not their contrariety to the divine nature, is their not seeing
what God is. ...It must be so; for a sinful nature and an holy nature are
diametrically opposite. So much as there is of a sinful disposition in the
heart, so much of contrariety is there to the divine nature. If, therefore,
we are not sensible of this contrariety, it can be owing to nothing but
our ignorance of God, or not believing him to be what he really \s,....Muiti.
vii. 8,9.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 109

would be well : Wc should be able enough to see, and hear, and
understand, ajid know divine things ; and should be ravished
with their beauty ; and it would be most natural and easy to
love God with all our hearts.

Anl hence, it is most evident that tlie supreme Governor of
the world has not the least ground or reason to abate his law,
or to reverse the threatening ; nor have a rebellious world the
least ground or reason to charge God with cruelty, and say, " It
is notjicst that he should require 77iore than we can do^ and
threaten to damn us for not doing ;" for, from what has been
said, it is manifest that the laxv is holu^ just^and good : And that
there is nothing in the way of our perfect conformity to it, but
our own wickedness, in which we are free, and hearty, and vol-
untary ; and for which, therefore, in strict justice, we deser\^c
eternal damnation. The law is already exactly upon a level with
our natural capacities, and it need not, therefore, be brought any
lower : And there is no greater punishment threatened than our
sin deserves ; there is, therefore, no reason the threatening
should be reversed ; — as to the law, all is well, and there is no
need of any alteration : And there is nothing amiss, but in our-
selves. It is impudent wickedness, therefore, to fly in the face
of God and of his holy law, and charge him with injustice and
cruelty ; because, forsooth, we hate him so bad that we cannot
find it in our hearts to love him ; and are so high-hearted and
stout that we must not be blamed. No, we are too good to be
blamed in the case, and ;ill the blame, therefore, must be cast
upon God and his holy law ; Yea, we are come to that, in this
rebellious world, that if God sends to us the news of pardon and
peace through Jesus Christ, and invites us to return unto him
and be reconciled, we are come to that, I say, as to take it as an
high affront at the hands of the Almighty. " He pretends to
" offer us mercy," (say God-hating, God-provoking sinners),
"but he only mocks us ; for he offers all upon conditions which
" we cannot possibly perform." This is as if they should say —
" We hate him so much, and are of so high a spirit, that wc can-
" not find in our hearts to return, and own the law to be just, by

110 TRUE RELIGION DELINK ATLD, AND

" which we stand condemned, and look to his free mercy,through
"Jesus Christ, for pardon and eternal life ; and, therefore, if he
*' will offer pardon and eternal life upon no easier terms, he does
*' but dissemble with us, and mock and deride us in our miserj-."
And since this is the true state of the case, therefore it is no
wonder that even infinite goodness, itself, has fixed upon a day
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his
mighty angels, in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ : And then shall ungodly sinners be convinced of all their
hard speeches which they have ungodlily spoken against the
Lord : And then shall the righteousness of all God's ways be
made manifest before all the world.

To conclude — God, the great Lord of all, has threatened
eternal damnation against all those who do not perfectly keep
the law, (Gal. iii. 10,) even although they live and die in the
midst of the heathen \\or\d....Rom. i. 18, 19, 20 ; (of which
more afterwards.) And at the day of judgment he will exe-
cute the threatening upon all, (those only excepted, that are,
by faith, interested in Christ and in the new covenant :) and
his so doing will evidently be justifiable in the sight of all worlds,
on this ground, viz. That they were not under a natural neces-
sity of sinning, but were altogether vz/luntary in their disobe-
dience. Luke xlx. 27. ...But those mine enemies which would
NOT that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them
before me.

And tfiis, by the way, is the very thing which stops the mouth
of an awakened, convinced, humbled sinner, and settles him
down in it, that he deserves to be damned, notwithstanding all
his doings, viz. that he is what he is, notby compidsion, or through
a natural necessitzj, but altogether voluntarily. There is noth-
ing more difficult in the whole work preparatory^ to conversion,
than to make the sinner see, and feel, and own, that it is just....
^uite just. ...altogether just and fair for God to damn him. He
pleads, that he is sorry for all his sins, and is xvilling to forsake
them all forever, and is resolved ahvays to do as well as he can.

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. Ill

He pleads, that he cantiot help his heart's being so bad... .that he
did not bring himself into that condition^ but that he was brought
into it by the fall of Adam., xvhich he could not possibly prevent^
and which he had no hand in. But when he comes, in a clear
and realizing manner, to see and feel the whole truth, viz. that
he does not care for God, nor desiie to, but is really an enemy
to him in his very hearty and voluntarily so, and that all his fair
pretences and promises, prayers and tears, are but mere hypoc-
risy, arising only from self-love, and guilty fears, and mercena-
ry hopes, NOW the business is done : For, says he. It ?natters
not how I came into this condition^ nor xvhether I can help having
so bad a heart, since lam voluntarily ^'?i*f such a one as Jam^
and really love and choose to be what I am. Rom. vii. 8, 9....
Si7i revived <jnd J died. He feels himself without excuse, and
that his mouth is stopped, and that he must be forced to own
the sentence just ; for he feels that it is not owing to any cc;,v-
pulsion or natural necessity, but that he is voluntarily and hearr
tily such a one as he is : And noiv, and not till now, does h«
feel himself to be a sinner, completely so ; for he, all along be-
fore, fancied some goodness to be in hinj, and thought himself
in some measure excusable : and now, and not till now, is
he prepared to attribute his salvation entirely to free and sove-
reign grace. All along before he had something to say for
himself, like the Pharisee : But, with the /;?/W/ca;2, he now sees
that he lies at mercy. ...L.uke xviii. 13. This is the very thing
that makes all mankind to blame, altogether to blame, for being
what they are, namely — that they are voluntarily so ; this is
the reason they deserve to be damned for being so, and this,
when seen and felt by the awakened sinner, eftectually sto[^
his mouth.

And this, also, is the very diingthat makes believers see them-
selves vjholly to blame for not being perfectly holy, and lays a
foundation for their ynourning for their want of a perfect con-
formity to the law. They feel their defects are not the result
of a naiurcd necessity, but only of the remains of their old aver-
sion to God, which, so far asdiev aic unsanctiticd, they are

Q '

112 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

voluntary in.* And hence they cry out, I am carnal^ sold un-
der sin^O xvretcked man that lam /...Rom. vii. 14, 24; and set
themselves down for beasts andyoo/s.... Psalm Ixxiii. 22.

And finally, this want of a good temper.... this voluntary and
stubborn aversion to God, and love to themselves, the world
and sin, is all that renders the immediate influences of the ho-
ly spirit so absolutely necessary, or indeed at all needful, to
recover and bring them to love God with all their hearts. A
bare representation of v.hat God is, were men of a right temper,
would ravish their hearts ; for his beauty and giorj^are infinite.
It is nothing, therefore, but their badness that makes it needful
that there should be Ihit upon line^ and precept upon precept.
It is their aversion, to God, that makes any persuasions at all
needful ; for, v/ere they of a right temper, they would love God
with all their heiLrts^ of their own accord. And surely, were not

• Obj. " But does not St. Paul say, in Rom. vii. 18, To will is present witk
" tne ; but hcfiu to perfonn that v:bich is good, I find not ?"

Ans. 'Tis true, he had a strong disposition to be perfectly holy, but his
disposition was not perfect. He had a strong disposition to Icve God su-
premely, live to him entirely, and delight in him wholly, but his whole heart
v.~aE not perfectly disposed to do so. Therfwasa spirit of aversion to God,
and love to sin, remaining in him. In 'me, that is, in myjlcsh, diuells no good
/A/;2^....and this was the ground and cause of all his impotency : So that
■when he says. To naill is present ixitk int, but hcnu to perform that ix-hich is
good, I find not, he means, " To be in a measure disposed to love God su-
" prejTiel) , live to him entirely, and delight in him wholly, is natural and
" easy ; but how to get my whole heart into the disposition, I find not — it
*' is beyond me, through the remains of the flesh, i. e. of my native contra-
" riety to God, and love to sin :" ^Vhich remaining contrariety to God, and
propensity tr sin, so far as he wasunsanctified, he was tolimtary in ; but so
far as he was sanctified, he perfectly hated. With -my onind, I myself servethe
Ici'Cd of God, but 'xith myfiesh the laiu (fsin....\er. 25. And so the spirit lusted
against the flesh, and the fiesh against the spirit ; and these two were contrary
the one to the other, and hence he could not do the things that he •uiould. . . G al . v . 17.

Obj. '4 But does not St. Paul speak several times, in Rom. vii. as if he
" was not properly to blame for his remaining corruptions, when he says. It
•' is not I, but sin that a-zueileth in oyie ■'"

Ans. He only means, by that phrase, to let us know that his remaining
COiTuption was not the governing principle in him : according to what he
had said in Horn. vL 14. ...Sin shall not have the dominion over you , for ye are
)iot under the laii;, bttt under grace : but does not at all design to insinuate,
that he did not see himself to blame, yea wholly to blame, for his remaining
corruption. ...For though he says sometimes, It is not I, but sin that d-uelleth
in 7ne, yet, at other times, I am carnal, sold under sin... vtr. 14. Oiiretched
'man that I a«i....vcr. 24 — like a broken-hearted penitent. But he could not
have mourned for his remaining corruption as being siiful, if he had not
felt himself to blame for it.

DISTIWOITISHED TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 113

men very bad indeed, there would be no occasion for his am-
bassadors with such eartiestness to beseech them : We pray you\
says the apostle, in Christ's steady be ye reconciled to God... .11.
Cor. V, 20. But now, that all external means that can possibly
be used. ...all arguments, and motives, and entreaties, urged in
the most forccable manner^ should not be able to recover men
to God, no not one^ in all the world, without the immediate in-
fluences of the holy spirit, can surely be attributed to nothing
short of this, that an apostate world are, in very deed, at enmi-
t\' against God, and their contrariety to \\\n\ is mightily settled
and rooted in their hearts — mightily settled and rooted indeedy
tliat Paid was nothing, and Apollos nothing, and all their most
vigorous efforts nothing ; so that without the immediate influen-
ces of the holy spirit, not one, by them, although the best ])reach-
ers, of mere men, that ever lived, could be persuaded to
turn to God.. ..I. Cor. iii. 7 ; but that the world should, in fact,
rise in arms, and put the messengers of heaven to death, seems
to argue emnity and malice, to the highest degree.. It is men's
badness that keeps them from taking in right apprehensions of
God, and that makes them blind to the beauty of the divine na-
ture, and that makes them hate God, instead of loving him :
but for this^ they would love God of their oxun accord^ without
anymore ado. If God were yonr father ^ (^says Christ) tje would
iove me ; tje are ofyourfuther the devil., therefore ye hate me.
Surely, then, all the world arc inexcusable, and wholly to blame,
for their continuance in sin, and justly deserve eternal damna-
tion at the hands of God, as was before said : Nor is it any ex-
cuse to say, " God docs not give me suilicient grace to make
*' mc better ;" since I might love God, with all my heart, of my"
own accord, with all the ease in the world, if I were but of a
right temper : Yea, such is his glory and beauty, that I could
not but be ravished with it, were I such as I ought to be ; and
my needing any special grace to make me love God, argues
that I am an enemy to him, a vile, abominable wretch, not fit
to live : And to pretend to excuse myself, and say, *• I cannot,
" and God will not make mc," is just as bad as if a rcbdlious

114 TRUE RELIGION DELIKEATEB, AND

child should go to his father, and say, " I hate you, and cannot
" love you, and God will not, by his almighty power, make me
*' better, and therefore I am not to blame ;" for the wretch could
not but love his good father, were it not that he is so exceed*
ingly vitiated in his temper. If our impotency consisted in
and resulted from our want of natural capacities... .if it was the
business of the holy spirit to give us new natural faculties, then
we might plead our inability, and plead God's not giving us suf-
ficient power, in excuse for ourselves : But since all our impo-
tency takes its rise entirely from another quarter, and all our
need of the influences of the holy spirit to bring us to love God
results from our badness, therefore are we without excuse, al-
though God leaves us entirely to ourselves : And indeed no-
thing can be more absurd than to suppose the Governor of the
world obliged to make his creatures love him, in spite of all their
aversion ; or more wicked than to lay the blame oftheir not lov-
ing him, upon him^ in case he does not...,yer. vii. 8. 9, 10 — 16*^

Qbj. But if it be granted that meiUs natural powers are ade-
quale with the law of God, and so they, as to their 7iatural capa-
cities, are capable of a perfect conformity to the laxv ; and if it be
granted that the outzvard advantages, which all have who live un-
der the gospel, are su^icient, were men but of a right temper, to
lead them to the true knowledge of God, and so, that all such are
without excuse ; yet, if any part of mankind do not enjoy suffi-
cient outward advantages for the true knowledge of God, without
which it is impossible they should either love or se7-ve him, how can
such justly and fairly be acccounted altogether to blame, and zvhol-
ly inexcusable ? If the heathen, who have no other outward ad-
vantages xvheveby to gaiyi the true knowledge of God, than the
works of creation and providence, do but honestly improve what
they Iiave, shall not they be accepted, although they full short of
sinless perfection ? Or is it right and fair that they should be
damned P

Ans. I suppose that those advantages, which all mankind
do actually enjoy, would be sufficient to lead them to a true
knowledge of God, and so to love and serve him, were they of

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 115

a right disposition, and were it not for the prejudices that blind
and darken their minds, which arise from their enmity to God,
and love to themseh es, tlic world, and s\n....Ro7n. i. 20, 28 :
And I suppose that God, the wise and holy, just and good
Governor of the woild, is under no natural obligation to use
any supernatural means for the removal of those prejudices ;
(^Rorn. ix. 15.) especially considering that men love them, and
are obstinate in them, and will not let them be removed if they
can help it, as is, in fact, the case....A'o;;?. i. 18, 28 — yohnVu. 19:
And I suppose that, since the law is holy, just and good, no-
thing short of sinless perfection caji, or oi/^it to, pass with the
supreme Law-giver and Judge of the world, as a condition of
acceptance... .C«/. iii. 10 — Ro)fi. iii. 20: And I suppose that
God was under no obligations to provide a Savior to bear the
curse of the law, and answer its demands for rtntj^ since allure
voluntarily at enmity against him and his \i\w-....Roiii. v. 8.
Upon the whole, I suppose that all mankind might have been
left in their {alien state, without a Savior, or any offers of par-
don and peace, or any supernatural advantages whatsoe\ er ;
and that yet their natural obligations to love God with all their
hearts, would have by no means ceased; and that it would have
been perfectly just and right with God, to have inflicted eternal
damnation upon us, for our not doing so....Ro7n. i, 18, and iii.
19. And besides, I suppose that all the nations of the earth
might have had the gospel preached to them, and, to this day,
enjo) ed it, had not the world been in arms against it, and killed
the messengers of peace, who were sent to carry the glad tidings
of pardon and salvation round the world.... /I/t;^ xxviii. 19 :
And I suppose, that still, in every age of the Cliristian church,
there have been ministers of Christ, who would gladly goto tiie
farthest parts of the earth, to carry the jo)ful news of a Savior,
were men but villingto receive the news, and repent, und con-
\'ert, and return to God : I know, there are such in this age ; from
all which, I suppose that it is right, fair, and just, for God to exe-
cute the threatening of his law according to his declared design
,..Rom. ii. 5, n. Thus much in general ; but, to be more particular,

116 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AKD

1. It is plain that the heathen, as well as the rest of mankind^
are under a law that forbids all sin, and requires perfect holi-
ness. For the xvrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of yneii^ let them htfervsov
Gentiles. ...Kom, i. 18. And since God is what he is, and they
his creatures, there is the same general ground and reason tliat
they should love him with all their hearts, as that others should.
And it is plain St. Paul looked upon the heathen under obliga-
tions to glorify God as God^ arid be tha)ikfuL.,.lR.ovn. i. 21 ; which
is the sum of what is required in the first table of the law : And
none wil^pretend that the heathen are not obliged to love their
neighbors as themselves, and do as they would be done by ;
which is the sum of what the second table requires : So that it
is a plain case, that they are, by the law of nature, obliged to the
same perfect holiness which is required, in God's written word^
of the rest of mankind.

2. It is plain, St. Paul looked upon them as enjoying suffi-
cient means of knowledge, and so to be without excuse. J^om»
i. 18. ...For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness ofmen^ who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. " Who hold the truth in unrighteousness, i. e.
" who, instead of heartily receiving, and loving, and conforming
"to the truth, do, from love to their lusts, hate, and wickedly
" suppress, all right notions of God.... of truth and dutv,^stifiing
*' their consciences," But how do the Gentiles discover this
aversion to the truth, who are under no advantages to know it ?
** I answer," says the apostle, " their advantages are sufficient ;
^'^ (or (verse 19.^ That which jnay be known of God is manifest
*^ in them ; i. e. the perfections of God, which is all that is
"knowable of God, are discovered to them ;" as he adds, '■'■For
" God hath shelved it unto themP But were not the perfections
of God discovered to them so darkly as not to be sufficiently
evident and perceivable ? " No," says he ; " for (verse 20.)
" The ijivisible things ofhim^from the creation of the world, are
" CLEARLY SEEN, being understood by the things that are made^
*'■ even his eternal poxver and Godliead ; so that they are without

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 117

" excuse ; i. e. ever since the creation of the world, the per-
*'fections of God are clearly to I)e seen in his works, thethin^
" which he has m;ide manifesting plainly what a God he is : so
*•• that those who see not his perfections, and are not sensible of
*'his infinite glory, cannot plead their want of sufficient outward
*' advantages, in excuse for their ignorance and insensibility ; and
*' therefore the heathen, who have this ad\'antage, are without
*' excuse." * And, still farther to clear up the point, the apos-
tle seems to go on, as it were, to say — " Yea, it is evident that
"the present ignorance of the Gentile nations is affected, and so
"inexcusable, not only from the sufficiency of their present out-
" wai'd advantages, but also from ihc'ir fonner misimprovement
*'of the advantages which they heretofore did enjoy. Because
" (ver. 21.) rv/um they knew Go J, i. e. when the heathen nations
'■'•formerly had right notions of God instilled into them, being
" instructed in the knowledge of the true God, by Noah and his
"sons, from whom they descended, yet then they glorified him
*'■ not as God^ neither were thaiikful ; their instructions had no
" influence upon them to make them holy : but they bccaine
^'■vain in their imaginations^andtheirfooliah heart xvas darkened;
" i. e. they soon fell olf to idolatry, and lost that knowledge of
" the true God, in which they had been instructed and cduca-
" ted : For (ver. 28) the^ did not like to retain God in their
*''• knoxvlcdge ; i. c. to remember those instructions which had

• If it should be objected, that St. Paul only means that their advantares
WQTC so great as to render thcni inexcusable in i!ieir^-;oi'.t idolatry Tiwdbt^h-
banded "wickedness, because they did, or mijjhtliavc known belter than to do
80, it may be easily aiu'iuocd, from tlie liith tt/..r, that he means to j/rove
that they were altogether inexcusable, not onlv in their ^^ am.; sins, but also
iiirt/Ztiieir ungodliness and u/iri^'Jjitousness, i.e. plainly, in fi// their \\ ant of a
jjcrfcct conformity to the miral law, or law of nature ; for the least de-
gree of non-conformity, in heart or life, to the Hrst table of the law, is a de-
gree of migodliiiesx, and the very least degree of non-conformity to the se-
cond tabic of the law, is a degree of uiiriii(hteuusKCss : And St. Paul is e.v-
prcss in it that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ai-l un-
^'I'dliness, &c. : And, in verse 21, he is full in it that th.e hea-.hcn are wholly
inexcusable for not glorifying God as C<ni, which is ni-Auifeslly all Miat the
law ever required ; so that it is jjlain he does not design merely to prove
iliat they were itiexcusable in their idolr.tr,', and the gras %jickcd7.ess cf their
lives, but also that they were inexcusable in, and whilly to blame fvr tleir
not being f}crfectly buly ; for they did, or might have known, that God deser-
ved tj be {ij<i-ed uit/j all their heart, and their neigbboi- us themsehts.

118 TRUE RELIGION DIILIN'EATED, AND

"been given them concerning the nature and perfections of
" God:* But they abandoned themselves to idolatry ; (ver. 23,
"25.) For which canse^ (ver. 24-, 26) — for which contempt cast
'' on God, God gave them up to all manner of wickedness ; sd
" that the present extreme Ignorance, blindness, and wicked-
*'ness of the Gentile nations, they have, through their aversiori
*' to God and love to sin, brought themselves into : so that it ii
*' manifest they do not desire the knov/ledge of God, but evi-
" dently hate all right notions of him, and so are, beyond dia-
" pute, xvithout excuse ; which was the point to be proved."—
Thus he proves that they are witliout excuse, because their
present advantages for the knowledge of God are sufficient —
which advantages, ever since the creation of the world, have
been common to all ; and because ihey had once superadded
advantages from parental instructions, which, instead of well
improving, and of carefully handing down from generation to
generation, they hated to remember, and, so, soon forgot.

And \kit%^ passages ought to be of more weight to decide
the case, because they are not merely occasional strokes, but
the apostle is evidently upon the very same point that I am :
For, from the 18th verse oi\S\\°> first chapter^ to the 19th verse of
the thirds he is industriously laboring to prove, tliat both Javi
and Gentiles arc all under sm^ and so tkc xvhole world ginltij before
God : And his arguments are not fetched from Adara^s first shi^
but from comparing them with the law of God, whereby he
discovers tlieir weaknesses ; all the blame v»hereof, he entirely
lavs upon them : and because it might have been objected^ that

* And I may add — Concerning tbe seed of the •woman....!be promised 3fef
tiaJ.i, and the vjay (f^ahation through hini ; for, no doubt, Moah and lus sons
had heard of this, ]jromise, and told it to their posievitv ; and it' tliey had
handed it down safe, from age to age, the heathen world might, througii-
out all generations, have been in a solvable state ; for this promise con-
tained the suiii and substance oi'the gosjje]. Methuselah lived iwo /6:i«i/;et^
andjurty years in tlie days of Adam. Noah lived six hundred, and his sons
about a hundred ycviX'i in the days of Methuselah : And Isaac \vas_yi/i'y years
old before all Noah's sons were dead : so tliat this promise might easil/
have been handed along down by tradition, and doubtless woulii have been
80, had it been precious in the eyes of the children of m.en : And after-
T\-ardsl farther liglit might have been obtained from Israel, God's peculiiir
peopk, by the GenciU nations, had they really been desircus of it.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 119

tkehtathen world luid not suffcicnt means of knowledge ^ and so
fvere not ivholly to blayne and inexcusable in their non-conformity
to the lurv^ he does here designedly obviate the objection^ and
prove and declare them to be xvithoiit any objection from that
quarter* The apostle evidently takes it for granted, that tliey
had sufficient natural powers to capacitate them for the knowU
edge of God, and he proves that their outward advantages were
sufficient ; and so he lays the whole blame of their ignorance,
blindness, and wickedness upon themselves ; and fin;illy suras
them up, with the rest of mankind, as having their m«jw//i6'67cy>
ped^ and standing guilty before God. ...Chapter iii. 19.

The truth of the case seems, iii a few words, to lie here j — that
if Adam had never fell, the works of creation and providence
had been the glass in which he himself,and all his posterity, would
have beheld the glory of the Lord, from age to age j wherebj^,
being naturally of a right temper., tljey would have been effec-
tually influenced to love him, live to him, delight in him, and
praise him forever ; or, in St. Paul's words. To glorify God as
God., and be thankful. And I suppose that all mankind, still hav-
ing the same natural powers, and the same outward advantages,
are therefore entirely to blame for, and wholly inexcusable in,
all their ignorance, blindness, and wickedness ; especially con-
sidering they perfecdy lone to be what they are, and hate to be
reclaimed, and stand ready to resist tlie light when offered, and
shut their eyes against tlie truth, from whatever quarter it comes.
The heavens., still as clearly as ever, do declare the glory of the
Lordy and the frmameni sheivcth his handy work ; day unto day
utter eth speech, and night unto ?iight shervcthkiioxvlcdge...Vs^\n\
xix. 1. The natural perfections of God are clearly (o be seen in
all his works at the first glance, and his moral perfections would
be equally evident to an intelligent creature of a right temper at
the second thought : And then his glory would immediately
shine brighter than the sun, and every heart be ravished with
his infinite beauty : But such is our alienation from the Deity
in this apostate world, and such the vitiated temper of our minds,

that while angels see the divine glory in all his works, (/?fr.

R

120 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

iv. 11.) men, sottish, brutish men, though they have eyes to
see, see not ; but are" blind to the manifestations which God
makes of himself, because they do 7iot like to have God in their
knoxvledge. And nov/,

3. As to the heathens being accepted for honestly impro'oing
their powers and advantages, it-'is, inthe frst place^mosl certain,
from St. Paul's account, that they were at the very greatest dis-
tance from doing so. But, secondly, if they had done so, yea,
ii they had discovered so good a temper of mind as perfectly to
have conformed to the divine law, yet it is the very scope of all
the apostle's reasoning, in the three first chapters of his epistle
to the Romans, to prove that by the deeds of the laxv no flesh, neith-
er fetv nor Gentile, can be justified : And since die law is holy,
just, and good, it is not, indeed, reasonable that any thing short
of sinless pcrit.ction, from first to last, should pass with the right-
eous Governor of the world as a condition of acceptance. Fu-
ture obedience, let it be ever so perfect, can do nothing to make
amends for former neglects — as has been already proved in
another place : But that which, of itself alone, is entirely sufficient
to say in this matter, is, that it is expressly declared in Ro>}7. i.
18. ...The wrath of God is repealed from heaven against all un-
godliness (or every breach of the first table), and unrighteousness
(or every breach jcf the second table of the law), of men who
hold the truth in unrighteikusjiess : which words are evidently
Resigned, by the apostle, to represent the character and state of
the heathen world ; for he -spends the rest of the chapter in en-
larging upon, this head, shewing how the heathen held the truth
ia unrighteousness, and were exposed to the wrath of God for
their ungodliness and wirighteovsness ; and he concludes them,
all under sin, and guilty, and lost forever, unless they obtain jus-
tification ^j/^/^«Y/i in Christ^,.. (See Chapter iiij. 9,19,2.0,30 ver^
ses.^ And thus wc see how all mankind have not only suffi»
cient natural powers, but also sui£cient outward advantages to
know God and perfectly conform to his law, even the heathea
themselves ; and that the very reason they do not, is their want
of such a temper as they ought to have, and their voluntary, root-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFLITS. 121

ed enmity to God, and love to sin,* And now that they are
wholly to blame and entirely inexcusable, appears still in a
clearer light.

But before I leave this point, I must make this remark, viz.
That if God looks upon the advantages of the heathen sufficient,
no Avonder that he so often speaks of the advantages of his own
professing people as being much more than barely sufficient,
even althouj^h they enjoy only the outward means of grace, with-
out the inward influences of the holy spirit : for, if the natural
advantages of the heathen are sufficient, surelv the supernatu-
ral ndvixnta^es of those who enjoy a divine revelation, are much
more than sufficient : And if the advantages of those who en-
joy only IX divine revelation are much more than sufficient, no
wonder then that those who lived in the days of Moses, Isaiah,
and Christ, are represented as very monsters of wickedness, for

• Ob J. But it ii impossible they should love God with all t^'ir hearts, if r hey
have no hopts of finding favor in his si^bt ; for he that con\eth to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarber of them that diligently seek
\\i\\\....Hcbrev:s xi. 6.

Ans. Coming to God, in Heb. xi. 6, evidently implies not only a confor-
mity to the law, but also a compliance with the gosj)el ; i. e. it implies not
Only a disposition to love God with all our hearts, but also a trusiin,;^ inhiiu
for the divine favor and eternal life upon gospel-encouragements ; whick
gospel-encouragements must, therefore , be undcrstootl and believed, or it
will, indeed, be impossitde so to trust in him. But I did not say that the
heathen were under sufficient outward advantages for an evangelical return-
ing to God, which is what is intended in Heb. xi. 6. but only for a com-
pliance with the law of nature, which is what is intended in Rovi. i. 20,21.

Ob J. But still is it not, in the iw.tnre of things, impossible they should love
Cod, if they have no hopes <f finding favor in his sight ^

Ans. Let common senr,e decide the case : — A servant hates his master
(a very good man) without cause, murders his only son, steals a thousar.d
pounds of his money, runs av.-ay into a far country, spends several years in
riotous living ; at length he is caught, brought home to his master, who is a
man in authority ; before hijii he has his trial, is conden\ned, and nas no hope
of favor. But how does this render it impossible, in the nature rf things,
that he should love his master ? AVhy cannot he love his master now, as
well as ever he could ? He lias the same original grounds of love be used
to have i He used to love his master — his master is as worthy of his esteem
as ever : He has no cause to esteem his master any the less, because he
himself has been such a villain, or because he is doomed to die for his
crimes ; — a punjshinent justly due. To dislike his master for these things
would be ])eri'cctly unreasonable : Surely, were he but of a right temp>er,
he coidd not but take all the blame to himself, and justify his master, and
esteem and love him, and be heartily sorry for all his villanies : He can be
under no inability, but what must arise from a bad heart. — The applica-
tion is easy.

122 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, ANd

remaining blind, senseless, impenitent, and unholj-, since they
cnjo\ed such great^ and so 7nany superadded advantages : No
\vonder> therefore, that Moses every where represents the chil-
d<-enof Israel as such a stubborn, perverse, stiff-necked, rebel-
lious people, (particularly see Deut. ix.) and makes as if their
blindness, seriselessness, and impenitency were most unaccount-
able and inexcusable, since their eyes had seen, and their ears
had heard such things, and their advantages had been so great.
Deut. xxix.i 2, 3, 4:..., And Moses called unto all Israel^ and said
unto theiUy 7~e have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in
the landof Egypt^ unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants^ and
vnto all his land ; (and that he might set forth the gi-eatness of
the things which they had seen, he adds). The great temptations
•which thine eyes have seen.*, the signs, and those great miracles^
(all which have been enough to melt the heart of a stone, and)
yet (as he goes on to sav), the Lord (by all these things which
have been so much more than enough), hath not given you an
heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day :
All these means ha\e not to this day attained the end, and made
) ou see, and feel, and know what a God the Lord is, and bring
you to love him, and fear him, and walk in all his ways. Mo-
ses evidently speaks of it as a very strange thing that they should
be blind, senseless, impenitent, and unholy, after such means
and advantages — as ii they were most inexcusable, yea, under a
I'ery aggravated guilt ; whereby he plainly takes it for granted,
that their advantages had been much wore than sufficient, had it
not been for their want of a right temper, and their wicked ob-
stinacy and perverseness : And yet he mentions none but out'
VJCird means and outxvard advantages, and docs not give the least
intimation that they had had any ///ry^z/vf assistance from the ho-
\y spirit : he does not bring any such thing into the account, but
ivholiy aggravates their sin and their great inexcusableness,
from the consideration of their outxvard helps : — Te have seen
all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, &c.
And no wonder he thought them so very insxcusable, since God
looks upon the heathen world without excuse, in diat while the

DISTINGUISHED fROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 123

heavens declare the glory of the Lord^ &c. they do not see with
their eyes, and perceive with their hearts, and, from a sense of
his glory, only thus discovered, love him, and live to him ; for,
if their advantages are enough, surely the advantages of the Is-
raelites were much, very inuch^ more than enough.

And, upon the same hypothesis, it is no v/onder that God
looked upon the case of the children of Israel as he did, in i\\t
time of Isaiah ; who, from the da} s of Moses even to that day,
had, from age to age, enjoyed such outward advantages as they
had, and had had such outward means used with them ; and,
in that age, enjoyed so great an outward privilege as the daily
prophesying and preaching of Isaiah, Ilosca, Amos, and Mi-
cah; who, some, if not all, of them prophesied, it is very prob-
tihle, forty or fifty years together at the same time, as we may
learn from the first verse in their several books, which tell us
when and how long they prophesied, compared with the account
we have of those kings' reigns, in the books of the Kings^ in
whose reigns they prophesiecl ; — no wonder, I say, God speaks
as he does in Isaiah v. 1 — 7....3[y beloved hatli a vineyard hi d
verij fruitful hill : And he fenced it^ and gathered out the stones
thereof and planted it with the choicest vine^ and built a tower ni
the midst of it^ and also made a wine-press therein: Here is rep-
resented the natural powers, and outward advantages of God's
people. — And he looked that it should bring forth grapes^ and it
brought forth wild grapes : And now^ 0 inhabitants of Jerusa-
lem^ and men of fudah^ judge ^ I P^'^y you^ betwixt me and my
vineyard. What could have been done more to tny vineyard, that
I liavc not done in it ? Wherefore, when I looked that it should
bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes ? Here all the
blame is entirely laid on themselves, and their conduct is con-
sidered as being inexcusably, yea, unaccountably bad. — And now
go to ; I will tell you what I will do to n:y vineyard — Iwill taki
axoay the hedge thereof &c. Where nothing can be plainer
than that the children of Israel are represented as enjoying suf-
ficient advantages for fruitfulntss — yea, advantages much more
than barel}- sulTicicnt ; and that their pro\ ing as they did, was

124 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

unspeakably vile and God-provoking, and for which they de-
sei-ved utter ruin ; and for which, indeed, God did afterwards,
according to his declared design, bring utter ruin upon them :
But all those advantages were outward ; nor is the inward aS'
sistance of the holy spirit any where brought into tlie account,
whenever the greatness of their advantages is set forth, on pur-
pose to show how aggravated their wickedness was : but this is
constantly the charge, as in II. Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16, 17,... And
the Lord God of their fathers sent imto them by his messengers^
rising up betimes and sending ; but they mocked the messengers
of God., and despised his words, and misused his prophets^ until
the wrath of God arose against his people, till there xvas no rem-
edy : Therefore, he brought upon them the King of the Chaldces ;
not because they did not improve the inward assistances of the
holy spirit, but because they did not improve their outward ad-
vantages....c?/if not hearken to God^s messengers : And in this
strain their confessions ran, when God, by his grace, had brought
them to see what they had done ; — as in Dan. ix. 5, 6, h.c....We
have sinned, and committed iniquity, and have done zvickedly, and
have rebelled, even by departing from tliy precepts, andfrotn thy
judgmejits : Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants,
THE PROPHETS, wliich Spake ill thy name. The not hearkening
to them is mentioned as the great aggravation ; but their not im-
proving the inward assistance qi the spirit is not brought into
the account.... See A^eh. ix. 30.

It is evident that the children of Israel, considered as a na-
tion, had not special grace, or the renewing, sanctifying influen-
ces of the holy spirit, as one of their advantages, from Jer. xxxi.
31, 2>2,^^.... Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that Izvill
make a nexv covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house
of fudah, not according to the covenant Imade with their fathers,
in the day I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land
of Egypt ; Czvhichmy [national] covenant they brake, although
J was as an husband unto them, saith the Lord ;) But this shall
be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel : After
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laxv in their inward

DISTINGUISHED PROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 125

parts^ and write it in their hearts^ andxvill be their God^ and
theij shall he mij people ," — where the renewing, sanctifying in-
fluences of the holy spirit are mentioned as a peculiar privilege
the yewish people were not entitled unto as a nation^ by that
national covenant which God entered into with them, as such,
at Mount Sinai, {Exod. xix. — Dnit. v.) and which after>vards,
at the end of forty years, was renewed at the borders of Canaan
....£)«/<. xxix : Nor indeed were there any inward influences
of the holy spirit, at all, promised in that national covenant, as
a common privilege, to be by them in common enjoyed : And
if they were not entitled to this privilege, as a nation, by their
national covenant, then there is no evidence that they, as a na-
tion, did enjoy it ; and, therefore, when God speaks as if he
had done all for that nation that could be done, he plainly ha«
respect only to outivard means^ which were all that they, as a
nation, enjoyed : And, as to them, he evidently had good ground
so to say ; since he had done such great things for them, and
sent such prophets among them, and been continually taking
all pains, from agii to age, to make them a holy people : even
as we are ready to say concerning the people of a particular
parish, where there is a learned, godly, plain, searching, power*
ful, enlightening, faithful minister, such as Mr. Shepard was
in his day, JVhat morecoidd be done for siich a people, that ix not
a'o7ie ? And, therefore, when Stephen charged the Jews, that
they ahvays resisted the Holy Ghost, as their fathers had donr^
(in Acts vii. 51,) he means, that they hvA always resisted the
Holy Ghost, as speaking in and by their prophets, as now they
did the same spirit that spake in and by him — ^as is plain froia
verse 52, and as is also evident from Neh. ix. 30. And besides,
there is not the least intimation, that those Jews, to whom Ste-
phen spoke, were under any of the inward influences of the
holv spirit, but they seem rather to act like creatures whoUv
left of God. And this hint may help us to und( rstand that
phrase in Neh. ix. 20. compared widi Num. xi. IT ; So that,
from the whole, it is evident, that the children of Israel, as a
nation, were, in Isaiah's time, looked upon as enjoying advun'

126 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

tages much more than sufficient for their being a holy and fruit-
ful people, had they been of a right temper and not so wickedly
obstinate and per\erse in their bad disposition ; and yet their
advantages were only outward^ and the inward influences of the
holy spirit are not taken into the account.

And well might their advantages be thus esteemed, upon the
forementioned hypothesis : Yea, if all mankind are able, in res^
pect to their natural capacities, to yield perfect obedience, and'
if the advantages of the very heathen were sufficient, had it not
been for the want of a right temper in them, and for their very
bad disposition, it is no wonder that God speaks here concern-
ing his peculiar people, whose outward advantages were exceed-
ingly great, as if he had had very raised expectations of their
being a holy people : — Whej-efore^ xvhen I looked it shoidd bring
forth grapes^ brought it forth wild grapes ? q. d. *' I have done
** all, as to outward means, that could be done, to make you a
" holy people — enough, and more than enough ; and I looked
*' and expected that you should have been so : and whence is it
*' that you are not ? How unaccountable is it ? And how great
*^ is your wickedness ! And how great your guilt !" For it is
God's way, in the holy scriptures, to speak to men after the man-
ner of men, who are wont to have their expectations of fruitful-
ness raised, when they sow or plant in a fertile soil, well manu-
red and cultivated.. ..(See 3Iat. xxi. 33 — 41.) Just so a master
is wont to speak to his servant, who is strong, and able for bu-
siness— " I looked that you should have done such a piece of
*' work, wherefore is it not done ? You had time enough, and
" strength enough ;" and that although he knew, in all reason,
beforehand, that his servant would not do it, because of his lazy,
unfaithful temper — the design of such speeches being to repre-
sent the great unreasonableness and inexcusableness of such a
conduct.

And finally, upon the same hypothesis, it is no wonder that
Jesus Christ represents the people of Chorazin, and Bethsaida,
and Capernaum, as enjoying advantages sufficient to have
brought even Tyre, and Sidon, and Sodom to repentance, which,

BISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 12/

in scripture account, are some of the most wicked cities in the-
worlcl ; and so, coDse(jueatly,i3iore than bar,ely sufRcient to have
brought tlieai to repentance, who were, by profession, the people
of God ; for they hud enjoyed the ministry of Chriot hmiseif,
and seen very many of his mighty works., ..jl/ut. xi. 20i — 24. It
the advantages of the heathen world are suificient, v/ell jxiij^ht
Christ, speaking after the manner of men, seem to be so confi-
dent that Tyre, and Sidon, and Sodom would have repented,
if they had seen his mighty works ; and well might he speak as
if the people of Chorazin, &cc. had enjoyed advantages more
than barel)- sufficient, and lay all the blame of their impenitency
upon them— ^yea, and look upon them as uode^ an aggravated
guilt, and give them so heavy a doom : And yet nothing can
be plainer than that the advantages wJ^ichthey enjojed were on-
ly outrvard^ for no other are brought into the account, as aggra-
vations of their guilt : — Woe unto thcc^Jor if the ?)ijghttj ivorks
which xverc done in yc?/, &.c. He does not, in the least, inumate
as if.theyjiad any inward help from the holy spirit, but only says
he has done viighty Twor>ts among them ; yea, in vhe 25 111 verse,
he plainly declares that they were left destitute oi special grace.

And thus, while, with St. Paul, we look upon the advantages
even of the heathen woi Id as sufficient }.o lead them to the true
knowledge of God, and a perfect .conformity to his lav/, btit for
their want of a good temper, mid their voluntary aNersion to God
and love to sin, we easily see whence it is that the external ^d-^
i antages of those who enjoy the benefit of a di\ine rej^ehttion,
together with other outward means of grace, are represented a$
being much more than barely bufficient — and coni,equcntlv their
guilt, in remaining impenitent and ujiholy, as beinc; doubly ag-
gravated.

And before I leave this p/jiot, I roust make one remark more,

■amely, that if the advantages of the heathei world were sui?i-

ejent, but for their want of a good temper, their voluntary aver*

sion to God and love to sin, to lead them to the true knowledge

of Gdd, and a perfect conformity to his law, as has been proved,

then God was not under anv natural obligaiionn to grant to an)'

S

128 TR¥E RELIGION DELIXEATED, AND

of mankind any supernatural advantages^ but still might justly
have required sinless perfection of all, and threatened eternal
damnation for the least defect ; — I say, God was under no nat'
ural obligations^ i. e. any obligations arising from his nature and
perfections : for he might, consi^stcnt with his holiness, justice,
and goodness, ha\ e left all mankind to themselves, without
any supernatural advantages, since tlieir natural advantages
were sufficient, and they were obstinate in their ignorance, blind-
ness, and wickedness. Most certainly God was not bound to
have sent his Son. ...his spirit. ...his word,... his messengers, and
entreat and beseech those who perfcctlj- hated him, and hated
to hear from him, and were disposed to crucify his Son — resist
his spirit — ^pervert his word, and kill his messengers, to turn
and love him, and serve him ; but might, even consistent with
infinite goodness itself, have let them take their course, and go
on in the way they were set in, and have damned them all at last.
All that the great and glorious Governor of the world requires
of mankind, in the law of nature, is, that they love him with all
their hearts and souls, and live as brethren together in his world ;
which is infinitely reasonable in itself, and which they have suf-
ficient natural powers to do. And he has stretched abroad the
heavens as a curtain over their heads, which declare the glory
of die Lord .; and intheeaith, and in all his works, his perfec-
tions are clearly to be seen — so that all are under sufficient ad-
vantages for the knov/ledge of him ; but mankind hate God,
and say unto the Almighty, Depart from iis^for xvedo not desire
the knoxvledge of thy xvays : and hence they still remain ig-no-
rant of God, averse to him, and in love with sin : And now, I
sav, it is as evident as the sun at noon day, that God might fair-
Iv have damned such creatures, without using anj' more means
withthem. Hislav/beingthus upon a perfect level with their nat-
ural powers and natural advantages, he was not obliged, as he was
the righteous and good Governor of the world, to grant them
-any supernatural assistance, either outward, by an external rev-
elation, or inward, b\' the internal influences of his holy spirit :
and therefore it is, that the great Ruler of the world has always

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 129

acted sovereignly and arbitrarily in these matters, bestowing
these supernatural favors upon whom he pleases, as bein^ obliged
to none. Thus he has done as to the external revelation :

Psalm cxlvii. 19, 20 He sherveth his word unto Jacob. ...hifi

statutes a7id liift judgments unto Israel: He hath not dealt so with
any nation^ and as for his judgments^ they have not known them.
And thus he has done as to the internal influences of his spirit :
Mat. xi. 25, 2(y....I thank thee^ 0 Father^ Lord of heaven and
earthy because thoti hast hid these things from the ivise ami pru-
dent^ and hast revealed them unto babes ; even sOj Father^ for so
it seemed good in thy sight : And thus God, even t6 this day,
as to both outward and inwaixl help;i, hath nwrcy on whom he
will have mercy ^ atid compassion on whom he will have compaS'
sion : He effeciualhj sends the gospel to one nation, and not to
another ; and where the gospel is preached, he, by his spirit,
awakens, convinces, humbles, converts whom he pleases, iind
leaves the rest.

And thus the objection, from the heathen's not having suffi-
cient outward advantages, has been answered ; and, from the
answer, I have takenoccasion to makethese (I hope) not unprof-
itable remarks ; and may now return and repeat my former as-
sertion, with still higher degrees ofassurance,t;/2. that mankind
are altogether to bbme for, and entirely inexcusable in, their
non-conformity to the holy law of God, and therefore justly de-
serve damnation — and that even the heathen, as well as others.
Thus have I endeavored to shew what is the exact measine
of love and obedience that God requires of the children of men,
and that all mankind have sullicicnt natural powers and outward
advantages, and that all their blindnes;;, ignorance, andv/irked-
ness, are voluntary, chosen, and lo\ed : And I have lieen the
larger upon these things, in order to clear up the^^^.Y/ccof God
and his law, and the grace of God in his g-ospel — both v/hich
have been sadly misrepresented bv those who have not aright
understood or well attended to these things. I'hey have said
that it is not just in God to require sinless perfection of man-
kind, or damn any for the want of it.: They liave said that tlio

130 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, ANB

law is abated and brought down to a level with (I hardly know
what, unless I call it) the vitiated, depraved temper of an apos-
tate world/ who both hate God and his holy law, and want an
act of toleration and indulgence to be passed in favor of their
corruptions, that, at heart, they may remain dead in sin, and
yet, by a round of external duties, be secured from damnation
at last : And so they have, like the Pharisees of old, {.Mat. v.)
destroyed the law by their abatements ; and now the law, only
by \\'hich is the knowledge of sin, being thus laid aside, they are
ignorantof their sinful, guilty, helpless, undone state, and so
are insensible of their needof the sovereign grace of God, through
Jeius Christ, to save ihem — and fancy they i^re well disposed
enough to turn to God of ihcjrown accord ; And having imbi-
bed such notions of religion, they easily see that the better sort
of heathen have, for substance, the same religion with themselves,
and therefore have equal charity for them ; — not being really
sensible of their need of gospel-grace for themselves, they have
full charity for the heathen, who never so much as heard of it :
But what I have said is sufficient, I think, to clear the justice of
God in his law, and the grace of God in the gospel, and sweep
away this refuge of lies, by which so many gladly quiet their con-
sciences, and wofally deceive their own souls. However, of
these things we shall still have something more afterwards.

Thus, we have gone through what was proposed.. ..have con-
sidered what was implied in love to God, and from what motives
we are to love him, and what measure of love is required : and
all that has been sarid cannot possibly be summed up in fewer
or plainer words than these, T/wk shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy hearty and with all thy soid....rvith all thy ynind^ and
with all thy strength : This is ts^e first and great commandment ;
in conformity whereunto the first and great part of religion does
consist : And the second^ which is like unto it, being the foun-
dation of the other half of (this part of) religioii, (now under
consideration), is, Thoii shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;
which is what we are, in the next place, to proceed to a consid-
eration of.

BISTINGUISHJED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 131

SECTION IV.
OF LOVE TO OUR NEIGHBOR.

II. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself: In which words
we have (I.) the- duty rcquh-cd — Thou slialt love, (i.) The
original, natural ground and reason of it intimated — 'Thy neigh'
bor ; which name^ given to our fellow-mcn, may lead us to con-
sider them as being ivhdt they are'va. themselves, and as sustain-
ing some kind of character and relation with regard to us. —
(3.) The rule and standard by which our love to our neighbor
is to be regulated — As thyself. Here, therefore, we may con-
sider what is implied in love to our neighor....from what motives
we arc to love him, and by what standard our love is to be reg-
ulated, as to its nature and measure.

First, L-et us consider ivlrfit is implied in that love to our
neighbor^ which, by the law of God, is required of us : And, in
general, it is pre-supposed, or implied, that we have a right tem-
per of mind.. ..an upright, impartial, candid, benevolent temper,
«ven to perfection, without the least tincture of any thing to the
contrar)' ; for, without this, we shall not — we cannot view our
neighbors in a true light, nor think of them. ...nor judge of them
....nor feel towards them, exactly as we ought. A wrong tem-
per....a selfish, partial, uncandid, censorious, carping, bitter, stin-
gy, proud temper, will unavoidably give a -wrong turn to all our
thoughts of, and feeling towards, our neighbors ; — as is mani-
fest trom the nature of the thing, and from universal experience.
Solomon observes, that as a man thinketh^ so is he ; and it is as
true, that as a man is^ so he thinketh ; for out of the heart — the
temper and disposition of the man, proceed his thovights of, and
feelings towards, both persons and things, according to our Sz'
y'low... 3Iut. xii. 33, 3-1-, 35. An upright, therefore impartial,
c;mdid, benevolent temper, to perfection, without the least tinc-
ture of any thing to the contrary, is pre-supposed and implied,
in the love required, as being, in the natiue of things, absolutely
necessary thereto. We must have a right temper, and, imder
the influence thereof, be perfectly in a disposition to view our

132 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

neighbors In a right light, and think andjudge of them, and be
aft'ected towards them as we ought ; i. e. To love them as our-
selves. Particularly,

1. There is a certain esteem and value for our fellow-men,
which, upon sundrj'^ accounts, is their due, that is implied in
this love. There are valuable things in mankind : some ha¥fe
one thing, and some another — some have gifts, and some have
grace — some have five talents, and some two, and some one —
some are worthy of a gi'eater esteem, and some less, consider-
ed merelv as they are in themselves : and then some are, by
God, set in a higher station, and some in a lower, sustaining
various characters, and standing in various relations ; as ma-
gistrates and subjects, ministers and people, parents and chil-
dren, masters and servants, &c. And there is a certain esteem
and respect due to every one in his station. Now, with a dis-
interested impartiality, and with a perfect candor, and a hearty
good-will, ought we to view the various excellencies of our
neighbors, and consider their various stations, chai-acters, and
reladons ; and, in our hearts, we ought to give every one his due
honor, and his proper place, being perfectly content, for our
parts, to be and to act in our own sphere, where God has pla-
ced us ; and, by our fellow-mortals, to be considered as being
just what we are : and indeed, this, for substance, is the duty
of every one in the whole system of intelligent creatures. As
for God most high, the throne is his proper place, and all his
intelligent creatures have their proper places, both with respect
to God, and with respect to one another — which places they
are bound to take, and to acquiesce in with all their hearts. We
have an instance of this temper, to a good degree, in David : He
was sensible that Saul was the Lord''s anointed^ and that it be-
came him to render honor to whom honor is due, and fear to
whom fear, and his heart was tender : hence David'' s heart smote
him, because he had cut offSauVs skirt. ...I. Sam. xxiv. 5. This
temper will naturally dispose us to feel and conduct rightiowards
our superiors, inferiors, and equals ; and so lay a solid foundation
forthe performance of all relative duties. The contrary to allthis

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 133

is a proud and conceited temper, attended with a disposition to
despise superiors, scorn equals, and trample upon inferiors ;
a temper in which men over-value themselves, their friends and
partv,and under-value and despise allothers. Such do not consid-
er persons and things as being what they are,and think, and judge,
and be affected, and act accordingly : Nor do they consider, or
regard the diifercnt stations in which men are set by God, or
the characters they sustain by divine appointment. They are
not go\'crncd b}- the reason of things, and the sense of what is
right and fit ; but by their own coiTuptions. This was the case
with Korah and his company, when they rose up against Mo-
ses and Aaron, and said, T'c take too much upon you^ seeing all
the congregation are lioly^ every one of thcm^ and the Lord is
among f/zi772....Num. xvi. 3. Pride makes superiors scornful
in their temper, and tyrannical in their government ; and pride
makes inferiors envious in their temper, and ungovernable ia
their lives ; and it makes ecfuals jealous, unfriend!}', conten-
tious : In a word, it la)s a foundation for the neglect of all rel-
ative duties, and for a general discord and confusion among
mankind.

2. We ought not only to consider, esteem, and respect our
fellow-men, as being what they are, and, with a perfect im-
partiality, give them their due, in our very hearts, according
to what they are, and to the stations they stand in, being perfect-
ly content, for our own parts, with tlie place which God has al-
lotted to us in the system, and to be and act in our own proper
sphere, and willing to be considered by others as beingjustwhat
we are ; but it is farther implied in the love required, that we
be perfectly benevolent towards them ; i. e. that we consider
their happincsny as to body and soul — as to time and eternity,
as being what it really is, and are (according to the meas-
ure of our natural capacities) thoroughly sensible of its
value and worth, and are disposed to be sifected, and act accord-
ingly, i. e. to be tender of it.. ..value and promote it, as being
what it is — to long, and labor, and pray for it — and to rejoice
in their prosperity, and be grieyed for their adversity ; and all

134 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

from a coi'dial love, and genuine good-wlU ; — the contrary t«
which is a selfish spirit^ whereby we are inclined only to value,
and seek,and rejoice in ourown wclfare,aiid not care for our neigh-
bor's, any further than we are influenced by self-love and self-
interest — which selfish spirit also lays a foundation for envy at
our neighbor's prosperity, and hard-hear tedness in the time of
his adversity, and inclines us to hurt his interest, to promote
our own. To love our neighbor as ourselves, makes it natural
to do as we would be done by ; but a selfish spirit makes it wi"
natural. Malevolence^ malice, and spite, make it even natural
to delight in our neighbor's misery : And hence it is, that rr-
venge is so sv/eet, and backbiting and detraction so agreeable in
this fallen, sinful world.

3.. I may add, that, so far as our fellow-men are'proper ob-
jects oi delight and coynplacency, so far ought we to take delight
and complacency in them : And hence it is that the godly maa
feels such a peculiar love to -the children of God, for that image
of God which he sees in them. The saints are, in his account,
the excellent of the sarth^inxvhomis all his delight.... Vs?\. xvi. 3.
The godly man is of Christ's temper, who said. Whosoever shall
do the will of my Father which is in hearoen, the same is tny broth-
er, and sister, and mother. ...M-Zt. xii. 50. But wicked men are
of another taste ; and the things,. ..the tempers and dispositions
in their neighbors, which to them appear excellent, and upon the
account of which they delight in them, are odious in God's sight.
huke xvi. 15. ...For tliat which is highly esteemed amongst incn,
is abomination in the sight of God ; for it is the temper of wick-
ed men not only to do wickedly themselves, butalso to have plea-
sure in others that do so too. ,..Ro?n. i. 32.. Those who arc
vain, or unclean, or intemperate, suit each other, and take de-
light in one another's company j while, at the same time, they
distaste and disrelish those things among mankind which are
truly most worthy of our delight. In a word, we ought so to es.-
teem others as to be heartily disposed to treat them with all that
respect which is their due ; and to have such a tender regard
for their welfure as to be perfectly disposed, in every instance.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 135

and, in every respect, to do as we would be done by ; and to take
notice of all their good properties with that entire friendliness
and perfect candor, as may dispose us to take all that delight
and complacency in them which is fit : In order unto all which,
it is requisite that we be perfectly free from any tincture of pride,
selfishness, &c. and have our hearts full of humility, benevo-
lence, candor, and goodness. And now,

Secondly. The motives by which zve are to be infuenced^
thus to love our neighbors as ourselves, are such as these :-^
1. It is right and ft in itself: As the apostle, exhorting children
to obey their parents in the Lord, uses this motive. For this is
right.. .."Eiph. vi. 1. The reason of God's requiring of us
to love our neighbors as ourselves, is because it is, in its
own nature, right that we should ; and this ought, therefore, to
move and influence us to do so. There is the same general
reason why I should love my neighbor, as why I should love
myself. Lovely things are as worthy of being loved in him a^
in me ; and, therefore, by me, ought, in all reason, to be loved
as much. There is the same reason why my neighbor should
be esteemed as being what he is, and according to the statioiji
he stands in, as that I should. To esteem myself above my
neighbor, merely because I am my self without any other reason,
is unfit and wrong, at first sight : So to admire my children.,.,
my friends.. ..my party, as if there were none such, merely be-
cause they are mine., is unreasonable and absurd. My very
worst enemy ought, by me, to be considered and esteemed as
being what he is, with an impartiality perfectly disinterested, as
well as my very best friend. Good properties are not at all the
better, merely for belonging to iiie, or to my friends ; or the
worse, for belonging to my neighbor, or my enemy : But it is
right I should view things as they are, and be affected towards
them accordingly ; indeed, I ought to be so far from a disposi-
tion to esteem myself above others, and to be prejudiced in my
own favor, (since I am capable of a much more full and inti*
mate acquaintance with my own sins and follies, than with the
sins and follies of others), that I ought rather to be habitually

136 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

disposed to prefer others in honor above myself.. ../^owt. xii. 10.
— Phil. ii. 3. And so, as to my neighbor's welfare and hap-
piness, there is the same general reason why it should be dear
to me, as that my own should : His welfare is worth as much,
in itself, as mine ; it is as worthy, therefore, to be valued, es-
teemed, sought after, and rejoiced in, as mine : It is true, my
welfare is more immediately put under my care by God Al-
mighty, and so it is fit it should, by me, be more especially ta-
ken care of ; — not that it is of greater worth for being mine, for
it is not ; but only because it is more immediately put under my
care by God Almighty : The same may be said of the welfare
of my family, &:c. ; but still my neighbor's welfare is, in itself,
as precious and dear as mine, and he is my neighbor.,.. he is
flesh and blood as well as I, and wants to be happy as well as I,
and is my brother by Adam; we are all but one great family —
the offspring of the same common parents ; we should, there-
fore, all be affected as brethren towards one another... dove as
brethren, and seek each other's welfare most tenderly and affec-
tionately, as being sensible how dear and precious the welfare of
each other is ; — this is perfectly right : And so we should bear
one another's burthens. ...mourn with them that mourn, and re-
joice with them that rejoice, as being tender-hearted, cordial
friends to every body ; and this from a real sight and sense that
such a temper and conduct is perfectly right and fit, in the na-
ture of things : And whereas there may be several things in my
laeighbor truly agreeable, it is evidently right I should delight
in those good properties according to their real worth ; — it is a
duty I owe to my neighbor, the possessor, and to God, the giver
of those good gifts.

2, But that I should thus love my neighbor as myself, is not
only, in its own nature, right, but is ?\so enjoined upon me by the
lazv and authority ofGod^ the supreme Governor of the world :
So that, from love to God, and from a sense of his right to me,
and authority over me, I ougiit, out of obedience to him, to love
my neighbor as myself, and always, and in all respects, to do
as I would be done by : and not to do so, is not only to injure

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 137

my neighbor, but to rebel against God, my King and Govern-
or— and so becomes an infinite evil : Hence, it is charged upon
David, that, by his conduct respecting Uriah, he had despised
the Lordy znA despised the commandment of the Lord ; and this is
mentioned as the great evil oi\\\s^\n....\l. Sam. xii. 9, 10: For
he had not merely murdered one of his fello\v-\\ orms, but ris-
en up in rebellion against the most high God ; and practically
said, " I care not for God, nor his authority....! love my lust,
and will gratify it for all him ;" And therefore, when David
was brought to true repentance, the native language of his soul,
to God, was — Against thee^ thee onhj have I si/tned....Vsal. li.
4. It is rebellion^ therefore. ...it is despising the Lord.. ..it is an
injinite evil^ not to love our neighbors as ourselves.

3. We have not only the authority, but also the example of
6od^ to influence us to this great duty of love and benrcoltiire. —
God is love : He has an infinite propensity to do good, and that
in cases where there is no motive from without to excite him ;
yea, where there is every thing to the contrarj- : He loves to
make his sun to rise, and his rain to fall, upon the evil and un-
thankful : He loves to fill tlie hearts of all with food and glad-
ness, and to strew innumerable blessings round a guilty, C:iod-
hating world ; yea, out of his great goodness, he has given his
only Son to die for sinners, and offers grace and glor\', and all
good things, through him — being ready to pardon, and receive
to favor, any poor, guilty wretch, that will repent, and return to
him, through Jesus Christ : And now for us, after all this, not
to love our fellow-men — ^j'ea, not to love our ver)- worst ene-
mies, is very vile. Since God has so loved iis^xve oicght snvely to
love one another....!. John iv. 11 : Since he has treated us, his
enemies, so kindh', we ought now, as dear children^ to imitate
him, and love our enemies^ and bless them that curse wv, and do
good to them that hate iis^ and praij for them zvhich despitcfullij
use us^ and persecute 7/.s-....Mat. v. 44,45. The infinite bcautv
in the goodness of the divine nature lays us under infinite ob-
ligations to imitate it, in the temper of our minds, and in our
daily conduct : And it Is ingratitude.. ..it is a shame.. ..it is

138 TRUE RELIGION DtLlNEATED, AND

abominable wickedness, not to love our worst enemies, and for-
give the greatest injuries. Since the great Governor of the world
has treated us worms and rebels as he has, one would think that,
after all this, we should never be able to find a heart to hate or
injure any mortal ; Surely, we are under very strong obligations
to accept that divine exhortation in Eph. iv. 31, 5,2.. ..Let dibit'
terness, aiid -wrath., and anger, and clamor^ and evil speaking be
put azvayfrom among you., with all malice : and be ye kind one
to another, tender-hearted ^ forgiving one another, even as God,
for Christ'' s sake, hath forgiven you : And (Chap. 5. verse 1.)
■^^ yefolloxvers of God as dear children. Besides, there are ma-
ny additiotial obligations tolovQ and benevolence, and to peculiar
respect and kindness between husband and wife, parents and
children, friend 2in& friend, &c. arising from their mutual rela-
tions, and dependancies, and from special kindnesses already
received or hoped for. And now.

Thirdly, As to the standard by which our love is to be reg-
ulated, viz* Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. In order
rightly to understand it, v/e must — 1. Place ourselves, sensibly,
as in the presence of the infinitely gi'eat and glorious God, before
whom all the nations of the earth are nothing and less than noth-
ing, and vanltj^, and, in the light of God's greatness and glor}'',
we must take a view of our own littleness and deformity, and
so learn how we ought to be affected towards ourselves, compa-
red with God ; and as v/e ought to love ourselves, so ought
we to love our neighbor : And now, in general, we ought to be
disposed towards God, as being Avhat he is, and towards our-
selves and neighbors, as being what v/e and they are. Partic-
ularly, God's honor in the world ought to appear infinitely more
valuably and precious than our own, and therefore our own
ought to seem as a thing of no worth, compared with his, and,
as such, to be freely parted with when God's honoi- calls for it ;
and as free should we be to see the reputation of our dearest
.friends given up for God's sake. The same may be said of
our worldly interest and of all our worldly comforts, when com-
pared with God's interest and the interest of his Son's kingdom

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 139

in the world, and of the worldly interests and comforts of our
dearest friends : All, both ours and theirs, is comparatively
nothing, and ought to appear so to us ; yea, our lives and their
lives are just the same things — comparatively of no worth, and
to be parted with in a moment,wiihout the least reluctance, when
God's honor or interest calls therefor. 2. In order to a right un-
derstanding of this standard, we must also observe, that our love
toourselves is hahitiial^iinfeigned^fervent^acthe^ Tindpernianent:
so also must be ourlove to our neighbors. 3. A regular self-love
respects all our interests, but especially our 5/>/r/7?^<7/ and eternal
interest : so ought our love to our neighbors. 4. A regular self-
love naturally prompts us to be concerned for our welfare ten-
der ly.... to sctk \t diligently and /»;Wc;2f/t/.... to rejoice in \t hear-
tily^ and to be grieved for our calamities sincerely : so ought
our love to our neighbors to prompt us to feel and conduct with
regard to their welfare. 5. Self-love makes us take an wn-
feigned pleasure in promoting our own welfare : We do not think
it hard to do so much for ourselves ; — ihe pleasure we take in

promoting our welfare rervards our pains The same genuine

kind of love ought we to have to our neighbor; and so to re-
member the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said. It is more
blessed to give than to receive. 6. We ought never to speak of
our neighbor's sins, or weaknesses, or any way expose him to
shame and contempt in the world, in any case whatsoever, ex-
cept such wherein it would be our duty to be willing ourselves
to be so exposed by him, were we in his circumstances, and he
in ours : And then we are to do it with that sensible tenderness
for him that we could reasonably desire from him, towards us,
in a like case.

Thus, then, we have briefly considered the second great com-
mand of the law, and see what that meaneth — Tho7i shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. To lo\-e God with all our heart, l;ivs
a foundation, and prepares the way for us to love our ncigh!->ors
as ourselves. It removes and takes away those things v. hich
are contrary to this lo\e ; such as pride, selfishness, worldliness,
a narrow, stingy, envious, revengeful temper. True love to

140 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

God mortifies and kills these things at the root. And, second-
ly— True love to God assimilates us to the divine nature, and
makes us like God in the temper of our minds. But God is
love : and the more we are like God, the more are our hearts,
therefore, framed to love and benevolence. He that dtvelleth
in love^ dwelleth in God,, and God in him. Love to God sweet-
ens the soul, and enlarges our hearts to love our feilow-men.
And thirdly — The more we love God, the more sacred is his
authority with us, and the more glorious, amiable, and anima-
ting does his example appear, and the greater sense have we
of our obligations to gratitude to him ; all which tend jointly
to influence us to all love and goodness towards our neighbors :
So that, he that knows God, and loves him, will be full of love
to mankind ; and, therefore, he that loveth not^ knoweth npt God
....I. John iv. 8. On the other hand, where there is no true
love to God, there is no true love to mankind ; but the heart is
under the government of pride, selfishness, and other corrup-
tions,'vvhich are contrary to love : So that a genuine love to man-
kind is peculiar to the godly.. ..I. John iv. 7. 8.

And now, from what has been said, we may evidentlj'' see,
these following sorts of love to our neighbor, are, neither of
them, the love required, however nearly they may sometimes
seem to resemble it.

1. What is commonly called natural compassion,, is not the
love here required ; for the most wicked, profane man may be
of a very compassionate temper : so may the proud, the self-
ish, the envious, the malicious, and spiteful man — as experience
plainly shows. And besides, natural compassion does not
take its rise from aay sense of the rectitude and fitness of things,
or any regard to the divine aulhoritj-, but merely fi-om the an-
imal constitution : And men seem to be properly passive in it.
It is much the same thing in the human, as in the brutal nature :
It is, therefore, a different thing from the love here required.

2. The fiame may be said of what is called good-nature : It
arises merely from animal constitution, and is net the love here
required ; for such a man is not influenced in his love by the

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 141

reason and nature of things, or the authority of the great Gov-
ernor of the world, or from a consideration of the infinite good-
ness of the divine nature, any more than the heasts are, who are
some of them much I)ettcr tempered than others : So that this
sort of love has nothing of the nature of rcHgion in it : And it
is evident that many wicked and ungodly men have much of
this natural good-temper, who yet have no regard to God or du-
ty : Yea, a secret grudge against a neighbor, reigning in the
heart, may be, in the good-natured man, consistent with \\vs> good-
nature^ but it is not consistent with the love here required ; and
therefore they are evidently two things.

3. That love which is commonly called natural affection^ is
not the kwe here required. It is true that man is worse than
the beasts who is without natural affection, for they evidently
are not ; but every man is not a saint, because he has natural af-
fection : And it is true we owe a peculiar love, according to
God's law, to our relatives ; but natural affection is not this love :
for there are many ungodly wretches, who care neither for God
nor his law, who have as much natural affection as any in the
world ; yea, it is a common thing for ungodly parents to make
very idols of their children ; — for them, they go, and run, and
work, and toil, by night and day, to the utter neglect of God and
their own souls : and surely this cannot i)e the very love which
God requires : And besides, as natural affection naturally
prompts parents to love their children more than (iod, and be
more concerned for dicir welfare than for his glory, so it is com*
monly a b:u- in the way of their loving others as they cKight ; — «-
They have nothing to give to the poor and need}' — to die wid-
ow and the fatherless ; they must lay up all for their children :
yea, many times they rake and scrape, cheat and defraud, and,
like mere earth-worms, bury themselves iu the world ; and all
this for the sake of their children ; And yet all dvislove to theif
diildren does not prompt them to take care of their souls. They
never teach their children to pray, nor instnicx them to seek af-
ter God : They love their bodies, but care Httle for their souls;
Their love to the one is beyond all bounds, but, to tlic other,

142 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

is little or nothing : It is an irrational fondness, and not the love
required. Indeed, it' parents loved their children as they ought
to do, their love would efFectually influence them to take care of
their souls, and do all their duty to them — which natural affec-
tion evidently does not ; and therefore it is not that love with
which God, in his law, requires parents to love their children :
Nor, indeed, does there seem to be any more of the nature of
true virtue or real religion in the natural affection of men, than
there is in the natural affection of beasts — both resulting merely
from animal nature and a natural self-love, without any regard
to the reason and nature of things.

4. Nor is that the love here required, which arises merely
from a party-spirit ; because such a one is of their pai'ty, and
on their side, and loves those whom they love, and will plead,
stand up, and contend for them, and maintain their cause : For
such a love is preg-nant with hatred and ill-will to every body
else ; and nothing will humor and gratify it more than to see
the opposite party hated, reviled, and blackened : And besides,
such a love is nothing but self-love in another shape. Te have
heard that it hath been said^ Thou shalt love thy neighbor^ and
hate thine enemy : But I say unto you, love your enemies.....
Mat. V. 43, 44.

5. Nor is that the love here required, which arises merely
from others'' love to me : As if a rich man is kind and bountiful
to poor people all around him, and appears to love and pity
them, they, though almost ever so wicked, will feel a sort of
love to him : But if this rich man happens to be a civil magis-
trate, and is called to sit as a judge in their case, and passes
judgment against them for their crimes, now their love dies,
and enmity, and hatred, and revenge begin to ferment in their
hearts. In this case, it is not the man they love, but rather his
kindnesses : And their seeming love, is nothing but a certain
operation of self-love. And indeed, however full of love per-
sons may seem to be to their neighbors, if all arises merely fro7K
self-love^ or is for self-ends^ nothing is genuine : and that wheth-
er things worldly, or things religious, occasion their love. A

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUMT.RPEITS. 143

poor nian \v ill love and honor those who are rich, if he hopes
lo get any Uiing by it. A rich man may be kind to the poor,
with nn eye to his credit. An awakened sinner will love an
awakening preacher, in hopes he shall lie converted bj- his min-
Lstrv. A minister may seem to show a w^orld of love to the
souls of sinnei-s, and all with an eye to applause. Hypocrites
will love a godlv minister, so long as he thinks well of them,
and iiappens not to detect their hypocrisy in his public preach-
ing. Even the Galat'unis were \try full of love to Paul for a
while, so long as they thought he loved tliem, and had been the
imstrumcnt of their conversion ; yet, afterwards, thev lost their
love, and turned his enemies, for his telling them the truth —
while others, who loved him truly for what he was, were more
and more knit unto him for those very doctrines for which tlu;
{jalat'unis hated him. Ify^ ^ovc them which love yov^ ivhat re'
wardhavet/e? Do not the publicans the samc?....'yLnt. \\46.
There is no virtue nor religion in such a kind of love, and it is
cvidentiy no/ /Ac ^/(<:V7_^ required by the divine law. And in-
deed it is a thing as difficult, and as contrary to coirupt nature,
for us genuinely to love our neighbors as oiu'selves, as it is to
love God with all our hearts ; and there is as liule true love be-
tween man and man, as there is between rien and Ciod^ It is
for our interest to love God, and it is for our interest to love
pur neighbors, and therefore men maie as if ihcy did so, when,
really, there is nothing genuine and tii;e : And, at the dav of
judgment, when a wicked world comes to God's bar, and their
past conduct is all brought to light, nothing will be more man-
ifestthan that there never was a spark of true love to God or
rnan in their hearts, but that, from first lo last, they were acted
and governed either by their animal constitution, or else merely
by self-love.

6. I may add, nor is that the love required, when men love
others mt-rchj becati-ie thetj are as bad ^ and so just like themselves:
— Nature and self-love will prompt the worst of men to do»so.
The vain and profligate love such as areas bad as themselves :
And, from the same principle, erroneous persons have a pecu*

U

144 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

liar regard for one another : And the enthusiast and blazing hy-
pocrite may, from the same principle, seem to be full of love
to their own sort, though full of malice against all others : And
they may think that it is the image of God which they love in
their brethren, when, indeed, it is only the linage of themselves*
Persons of a had taste may greatly delight in those things in oth-
ers, which are very odious in the sight of God : But surely this
cannot be the love required ; and yet, by this very thing, many
a hypocrite thinks himself a true saint.

Thus we see what it is to love God with all our hearts, and
our neighbors as ourselves, and see these two distinguished from
their counterfeits : And so we have gone through the two great
commands of the law, in a conformity to which the very essence
of religion does much consist.

And now it is added by our Savior, Upon these two luing all
the law and the prophets. The law and the prophets, i. e. the
inspired writings of the Old Testament consider these two max-
ims, that zve must love God with all our hear ts^ and oiir neighbors
as ourselves^ as first and foundation-principles : and all the va-
rious duties which they urge, respecting God and our fellow-
men, are but so many inferences and deductions from them.

God must be loved rvith all the heart : and therefore we must
make him our God and none else, according to the Jirst com-
maiid — worship him according to his appointed institutions,
agreeably to the second co??imand — ^with becoming reverence
and devotion, according to the third — and that in all such
set times as he hath appointed in his word, according to the
fourth.

Our neighbor ?7iust be loved as ourselves : and therefore we
must render honor to whom honor is due, according to the
fifth command ; and be tender of our neighbor's life, chastit}\
estate, and good name, according to the sixths seventh^ eighth^
and ninth commands ; and rejoice in his welfare and prosperity,
according to tlie tenth : and, in all things, treat him as we could
reasonably desire him to treat us, according to that golden rule
of Jesus Christ, in MaithrM vii. 12. v j

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 145

And as all the duties we owe to God and man, are thus, in
the theory^ but so many deductions^ necessarily flowing from
these two maxims^ or Jirst principles^ so, when the law of God
is written in the heart of a sinner by divine grace, and put in his
inward parts, there will, from these two principles, naturally
flow all duties to God and his neighbor, in his daily practice ;
i. e. from a disposition to love God supremely, live to him ulti-
mately, and delight in him superlatively, he will naturally be
inclined and enabled sincerely to do all his will — to make him
his God, according to the first command — ^to worship him ac-
cording to his own appointments, with becoming reverence, and
at all suitable times, according to the rest. It will be his nature
to do all this — his meat and his drink, and so his greatest delight.
And so, also, from a genuine disposition to love his neighbor
as hin^elf, he will be naturally inclined and enabled, in all things,
and at all times, sincerely to do as he would be done by. It
will be his nature to do so — his meat and his drink, and so hi&
greatest delight....//!?^, viii. 10 — Johnyiw 14 — I. John ii, 3, 4y
— Psalm xix. 10.

So that, as it i& in theory^ so also it is in practice ; these two-
are like the seed that virtually contains the whole plant, or like
the root from which the whole tree grows, with all its branches
and fruit. And in proportion as a man loves God and his
neighbor with a genuine love, in the same proportion will his
incHnationand ability, thence arising, be, to do all these duties :
and consequently, when his lo\'e to God and his neighbor ar-
rives to perfection^ he will be perfectly inclined and enabled to
be perfect in holiness and righteousness, and will actually^ in oil
things, perfectly conform to both tables of the law. And it is
equally evident, that, until a man has a genuine love to God and
his neighbor in his heart, he will have neither inclination nor
ability (in a moral and spiritual sense) to perform one act of true
obedience : for as all true obedience^ according to the law and
prophets, is to flow from these two principles, so, consequent-
ly, according to the law and pi-ophets, that is not true obedience^
vi\\\cX\docs not : ^d, therefore, v/hen all a man's religion Is

146 TRUJE RELIGION DELINEATED, ANB

merely from self-love, and for self-ends, he cannot be said,
strictly speaking, to do any duty to God or his neighbor, or
Ghey one command ; for he ov\y serves himself y and that from a
supreme love to himself, which the law and the prophets do not
require, but strictly forbid^ in that they enjoin the direct contrary.

So that now, in a few words, we may here see wherein true
religion does consist^ as it stands distinguished from all x\\e false
religion in the world. The godly man, from seeing God to
be just such a one as he is, and from a real sense of his infinite
glorj- and amiableness in being such, is thereby influenced to
love him supremely, live to him ultimatelv, and delight in him
superlatively : fi'om which inxvard frame of hearty he freely runs
the way of God's commands, and is in his element when doing
God's will. He eats, he drinks, he works, he prays, and does
all things, with a single eye to God, who has placed him in
this his world, allotted to him his peculiar station, and pointed
out before him all the business of life. ...always looking to him
for all things, and always giving thanks unto his name, for all
his unspeakable goodness to a wretch so infinitely unworthy.
And, with a spirit of disinterested impartiality, and genuine
benevolence, he views his fellow-men. ...gives them their places
....takes his own, and loves them as himself : Their welfare is
dear to him ; he is grieved at their miseries, and rejoices at
their mercies, and delights to do all the good he can, to every
one, in the place and station which God has set him in. And
he finds that this new and divine temper is inwrought in
his very nature ; so that, instead of a forced religion, or a
religion merely by fits, his very heart is habitually bent and in-
clined to such views and apprehensions — to such an inward
temper, and to such an outward conduct.

This, this is the religion of the Bible — the religion which the
law and the prophets, and which Christ and his aposdes too, all
join to teach — the religion which Christ came into the world
to recover men unto, and to which the spirit of God docs actu-
allv recover every believer, in a greater or lesser degree. Thus,
those who are dead in sin, are quic/cemd...,^i>h. u. 1 — Hove

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 147

the Icnv xvritten in their hearts. ...Hch. viii. 10 — Are made neiv
ereaturcs^ all old things being done away^ and all things become
nerv....ll. Cor. v. 1 7 — And are effectually taught to deny all
ungodliness andxvorldly lust.s, and to live soberly, righteously^
and godly in this /^resent xvorld.*.. Tit. ii. 12 — And so serve God
without fear ^ in holiness and righteousness^ all the dcn/s of their
//try.... Luke i. 74, 75,

Anil this is specifically dilL-rent from every sort of false re-
ligion in the world : For all kinds of false religion, however dif-
ferent in other things, yet all agree in this, to result merely from
a principle of self-love, whereby fallen men, being ignorant of
God, are inclined to love themseis es supremely, and do all
things for themselves ultimately. All the idolatrous religion of
the heathen world, in which some took much pains, had its rise
from this principle. They had some notion of a future state —
of a heaven and a hell, as well as of temporal rewards" and pun-
ishments, and so were moved by hope and fear, from a princi-
ple of self-love, to do something to pacify the anger of the gods,
and recommend themselves to the favor of their deities : And
all the superstitions of the seemingly devout papist.... his />a?er-
nosters, his aue-??zr/r/o.?, \\\s penances 2ci\d pilgrimages, zxxd. end-
less toils, still arise from the same principle : So does all the
religion of formalists, and legal hypocrites, in the reformed na-
tions : It is a slavish fear of hell, and mercenary hope of heav-
en, which, from a principle of self-love, sets all a going ; yea,
the evangelical hypocrite, who mightily talks of supernatural,
divine light — of the spirit's operation." — of conversion, and a
new nature, still, after all, has no higher principle in him than
self-love. His conscience has been greatly enlightened, and
his heart terrified, and his corruptions stunned : and he has, by
the delusions of Satan, obtained a strong confidence of the love
of Ciod, and pardon of his sins ; so that, i.i^tead of being influ-
enced chiefly by the fear of hell, as the legal hv))ocrite is, he is
ravished with heaven ; but still, all is from self-lo\e, and for
self-ends ; and, properly and scripturally speaking, he neither
knows God, nor cares at all for him. And this is the vciv case

148 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

with every graceless man living, of "whatever denomination ;
whether a Heathen, or Jew, or Christian — whether Papist, or
Protestant — whether Church- man, Presbyterian, Congrega-
tionalist, or Separatist — whether a Pelagian, Arminian, Calvin^
ist, Antinomian, Baptist, or Quaker. And this is the case
•w'wh ey try graceless mTnaXwin^^ whatever his attainments matf
oiherivise be ; — though he hath all knowledge to understand all
■mysteries, and can speak with the tongues of men and angels,
and has faith to remove mountains, and zeal enough to give all
his goods to feed the poor, and his body to be burned; yet he
has no charitij — lie is perfectly destitute of this genuine love to
God and his neighbor, and has no higher principle in his heart,
from which all his religion proceeds, but a supreme love to
himself. For, ever since our first parents aspired to be as gods,
"it has been the nature of all mankind to love themselves supreme-
Iv, and to be blind to the infinite beaut}' of the divine nature ;
arid it remains so to be with all, until renewed by divine grace :
So that self-love is the highest principle from which unregene-
rate men do ever act, or can act.

Here, therefore, we have true religion. ...a religion specifi-
callv different from all other sorts of religion in the world, stand-
ing in a clear view : yea, and we may be absolutely certain
that this is the very thing which has been described : For this
conformity to the moral law is, throughout all the Bible, by
Moses and the prophets.... by Christ and his apostles, repre-
sented to be the ver\' thing in which the essence of religion ori-
ginally consists. " Blef 3 d be the name of the Lord forever,
'" who has given us so clear a revelation of his will, and so sure
" and certain a guide as his word." Come here, all you poor,
exercised, broken-hearted saints, that live in this dark, benight-
ed world, where many run to and fro, and where there are a
thousand different opinions, and every one confident that he is
right ; — come here to the law and to the testimony ; — come
here to Christ himself, and learn what the truth is, and be set-
tled— ^be confirmed, and be established forever ; and remember,
and practise upon those words of Jesus Christ, in John vii. 17

DISTINGUKHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 149

»„.Ifany man will do his rvili, he shall knoiv of the .doctrine^
•whetlier it be of God. O, read the Bible — ^live lives of prayer
and communion with God ; yea, die to yourselves, the world
and sin, and return home to God through Jesus Christ — and
love him, and live to him, and delight in him more and more —
and be more and more disinterested and impartial.. .sincere and
fer/ent, in your love to your neighbors — do all the good, to ev-
ery one, that you can ; in a word, be the servants of God, and
grow up into his image, and your certainty of divine truths will
proportionably strengthen and increase : For the more your
imderstandings are free frdm that darkness and prejudice that
sin has introduced, the clearer will you view divine truths, and
the greater sense will you have of their inherent divine glory ;
find so your belief of their divinity will be the more unshaken.
Having thus gone through with what was proposed, a general
improvement of the whole is all that now remains : And, indeed,
much use may be made of these great truths, which have been
thus explained and proved, for our instruction in some of the
most controverted points in religion, and to dear tip the believ-
er's gracious state, and also to promote our humiliatio?i, and
thankfulness y and universal obedience.

SECTION V.

RIGHT APPREHENSIONS OF THE LAW USEFUL TO CLEAR UP
SOME OF THE MOST CONTROVERTED POINTS IN RELIGION.

Use I. Of instruction. We have seen what the law of God
requires, and the infinite obligations we ai'e under perfecdy to
conform to it.. ..we have seen wherein a genuine conformity to
the law consists, and how a genuine conformity to it differs from
all counterfeits ; and what has been said may help us to under-
stand the following particulars :

1. Wherein consisted the tnoral image of God in xvhich Adam
xuas created. That Adam was created in the image of God, is
expressly affirmed in Gen. i. 27. ...So God created jnan in his own
image^ in the image of God created he hi;}: : And from these
words wc have just the same reason to b<jlic\e that Jdain was

150 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AXD

created in the morale as that he was in the natural image of God-;
because they tell us in plain terms, without any distinction or
exception, (nor is there any tiiat can be gathered from any oth-
er text), that he was created in the image of God ; but the vioral
as well as the natural perfections of God are equally contained
m. his image: As to the /jo/t^ica/ image of God, Adam^ strictly
speakipg, was not created in that ; because, as the scriptures in-
form us, it was after his creation that he was made Lordoi this
lower world. ,..Gf;i. i. 28. And it is, I think, with less propri-
ety that tlus is, by divines^ called the image of God — I do not
know that it is any where so called in scriptui'e ; and God was
the same he is now, before he sustained the chai'acter of supreme
Lord and Governor of the woald. His natural ^nA moral per-
fections comprised his whole imag-e before the world was crea-
ted ; and in this his image was his creature, man, created : not
in part of his image, for there is no such intimation in all the Bi-
ble ; but in his i77iage^ comprising his moral, as well, and as
much, as his natural perfections.

Now, the moral image of God does radically consist in a tern-
per of mind ox frame of heart perfectly answerable to the moral
law — the moral laxv being, as it were, a transcript of the moral
perfections of God : So that, from what has been said of the na-
ture of the moral perfections of God, and of the nature of the
moral law, we may learn wherein consisted that moral image
of God in v/hich Adam was created. He had a perfect rhorfiJ
rectitude of heart.. ..a perfectly right temper of mind, and so was
perfectly disposed to love God with all his heart, and his neigh-
bors (if he had had any) as himself — was perfectly disposed to
give God his place, and take his own....and consider God as be-
ing what he was, and be affected and act accordingly. ...and to
ccTi^ider his fellow-men (if he had had any) as being what they
were, and feel and act accordingly : And in this image of God
was he created, as the scriptures teach us ; i. e. he was brought
into existence with such a temper conwafj/ro/ to him.

Now here is a new-made creature in a new world, viewing
God, and wondering at his inftnite glory, locking all round, as-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. iJl

tonished at the divine perfections shining forth in all his works:
lie views the spacious heavens.,. .they declare to him the glory
of the Lord : He seeshis wisdom and his power.. .he wonders and
adores : He looks round upon all his works. ...they clearly dis-
cover to him the invisible things of God, even his eternal power
and godhead ; and he stands amazed. God makes him Lord of
this lower world, appoints to him his d^tily employment, and
puts him into a state of trial, setting life and death before him ;
and he sees the infinite wisdom, holiness, justice and goodness
of God in all.. ..he falls down and worships. ...he exults in God,
and, with allhis heart, gives up himself to God with sweetest
delight ;•— all is genuine, natural, and free, resulting from the
native temper of his heart.

Here he beheld God in his infinite glon»', viewed his works,
conteo^plated his perfections, admired and adored him with a
sweetness and pleasure of soul most rcfmed ! Here he s iw God
in all the trees, plants, and herbs in the garden, his happy seat,
while, out of love to God and duty, he attended his daily busi-
ness^,.he ate and drank, and blessed his great benefactor ! He saw
that it was inf nitcly reasonable that he should love God with
all his heai-t, and obey him in every thing, if eternal life had not
it all been promised ; both because God infinitely deserved it at
his hand, and also in doing thereof there was the greatest satis-
faction and delight : And he saw that if he, in any thing, should
disobey his sovereign Lord and rightful GoveiTior, it would bs
right, infinitely right, that he should be miserable forever, even
if God had never so threatened ; because to d^i^ohcy such aGod
appeared to him an infinite evil. He looked upon the promise
of eternal life as a mere free bounty : He looked upon the threat-
ening of death as impaitial justice : And while he con^iidered
eternal life under the notion of a reward promised to perfect
ol)cdience from God, his Governor, he saw his infinite love to
righteousness therein, as well as his infinite bounty : And while
ke considered death under the notion of a punishment threat-
ened against sin, lie saw God's infinite hatred of iniquity there-
in^ as veil as his impartial juslice ; And v/hea he saw how God

W

152 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and beheld his infinite
goodness on the one hand, and impartialjustice on the other, he
was ravished.. ..Now he saw plainly what God was, and his in-
finite glory in being such, and loved him with all his heart : It
was natural to account such a God infinitely amiable, and it was
natural to love him with all his heart ; — all was genuine and
free, resulting from the native temper of his mind.

These being his views and apprehensions, and this his nature,
hence, although he was under a covenant of works, yet the hopes
of happiness and the fears of miser\'^ v/ere not the original and
first spri7ig of his love to God : it was not originally from self-
love, and for self-ends, but from a sense of the beauty of the di-
vine nature ; and so it was not forced and hypocritical, but free
and genuine : it did not feel like a burden, but it was esteemed
a privilege ; and, instead of being disposed to think it much to
love God with all his heart, and obey him in every thing, he
rather thought it infinitely right and fit, as being God's due, and
that he deserved no thanks from God, but rather was under in-
finite obligations to give thanks to God forever, for such an in-
finite privilege : And thus we see wherein that moral image of
God consisted in which Adam was created.

2. From all which, it is a plain matter of fact that we are born
into the 7vo rid entirely destitute of the Jtioral image of God : So
certain as that the moral image of God radically consists in such
a temper, and makes it natural to have such-like views and dis-
positions— so certain we are in fact born without it. Look in-
to children, and there is nothing to be seen of these things ;
And w.e are all sure that such a temper and such-like views and
dispositions are not natural to us ; yea, most men are sure there
is still no such thing in them, and very many believe there is nO'
such thing in the world. We are, in fact, born like the xvild ass's
colt, as senseless of God, and as void and destitute of grace :
We have nature, but no grace — a taste for Jiatural good, but no
relish for moral beauty — an appetite for happiness, but no appC'
titeior holi?iess — a heart easily affected and' governed by selfish
considerations, but blind to the moral rectitude and fitness of

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFLITS. 153

things : And so we have a heart to love oimselves, but no heart
to love God ; and may be moved to act by selfish vLews^ but
cannot be influenced by the infinite moral beauty of the divine
nature. Thai xvhich in born ofthejlesh in JJesh. ...]o\\n iii. 6—
and will only mind and relish things which suit its na-
ture..../fow. viii. 5 — but is blind to spiritual things....! Cor. ii.
14. True, indeed, in children there arc many natural exccUcJi-
c/V*....many things pleasing and agi-ecable : In a good mood,
they appear loving and kind, innocent and harmless, humble and
meek — and so does a lamb. There is nothing but nature in
these appearances : It is owing to their animal constitution, and
to their being pleased and humored : It is all 1 rom no higher prin-
ciple than selt-love. — Cross them, and they will presently feel and
act bad enough : They have , in their temper and most early con-
duct, no regard to God or duty, or to the reason, and nature of
things, but are moved and affected merely as things please or
displease them, making their happiness their last end : And,
indeed, if the image of Ciod, holiness, or grace, or whatever we
call it, be really such a thing as has been said, then nothing of such
a nature can possibly be more plain and evident than this univer-
sallv is, that mankind are, in fact, born into the world destitute,
entirely destitute thereof.. .. yoZ» xi. 12 : And hence, we must
be born again.. >.]o\\n iii. 3, 6..

Obj. But zv/ierCy then^ was the propriety ofChrisfs saying, in
3Iat, xviii. 3.. ..Except ye be converted, and become as little
childi-en, ye shall not enter into the kindom of heaven i Is it not
here siippoaed that little children are patterns of humility and
goodness ?

Ans. And where was the proprict\' of those words in Isaiah
liii. 7 — ^where the prophet, speaking of Christ's meekness and
patience under his sufferings, says,. As a sheep before her shear-
ers is dumb^ so he opened not his month ? Is it not here supposed
that sheep arc patterns of meekness and patience ? Ihe truth is,
that these allusions 'do not prove that either sheep or little chil-
dren naturally have any realhiuiiility or meekness, of a gracious
nature, but only an appearance of it; And just of the same na-

154 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ture are those phrases in Mat.'x. 16.. ..As wise as scrpents....as
harmless as doves. But as these scriptures do not prove that
s/ieep^ and serpents^ and doves have grace, so neither does that
other text prove that little children naturally have it.

3. By comparing ourselves with the holy law of God, as it
has been already explained, we may also learn that we are bom
into the world, not only destitute of a conformity to the law, but
that we are natively diametrically opposed to it in the tevtper ofour
hearts. The law requires us to love God supremely^ but the na-
tive bent of our hearts is to love ourselves supremely : The law
requires us to live to God idtimately^ but the native bent of our
hearts is to live to ourselves idtimately : The law requires us to
delight in God superlatively^ but the native bent of our hearts is
to delight in thatxvhich is not God^ xvholly : And, finally, the law
requires us to love our neighbors as ourselves^ but the native
bent ofour hearts is to be inordinately selfish.

These are the earliest dispositions that are discovered in our
nature : And although I do not think that they are concreated
by God together with the essence of our souls, yet they seem to
be the very first propensities of the new-made soul : So that
they are, in a sense, connatural ; our whole hearts are perfectly
and entirely bent this way, from their very first motion. These
propensities, perhaps, in some sense, may be said to be con-
tracted^ in Opposition to their being strictly and philosophically
natural^ because they are not created by God with the essence
of the soul, but result from its native choice, or rather, more
strictly, are themselves its native choice : But most certainly
these propensities are not contracted, in the sense that many vi-
cious habits arc — namely, by long use and custom. In opposi-
tion to such vicious habits, ther mnv be called connaturcd. Lit-
tle children do very early bad things, and contract bad disposi-
tions ; but these propensities are evidently antecedent to every
bad thing infused or instilled by evil examples, or gotten by
practice, or occasioned by temptations : And hence, it is become
customary to call them natural^ and to say that it is our very nO'
ture to be so inclined : And to say that these propensities are

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 155

natural, would, to common people, be the most apt way ot" ex-
pressing the thing ; but it ought to be remembered that thej* are
not tmtitral in the same sense as \he faculties of our souls are :
for they are not the workmanship of God, but are our native
choice, and the voluntary, free, spontaneous beni of our hearts :
And to keep up this distinction, I frequently choose to use the
word native, instead of natural.

And now, that these dispositions are, as it were, thus born
withuB, is as evident from experience, as any thing of thiv^ kind
can be ; for these are the earliest dispositions that man's nature
discovers, and are evidently discovered before little children
are capable of learning them from others : Yea, it is plainly the
very native bent of their hearts to love themselves above all....
to make their ease, comfort, and happiness their last end and
their all, and to seek for all from the creature, or, in other words,
frG7n that xvhicli is not Gcd. This is plain to every one's obser-
vation ; nor did I ever hear any one, as I remember, venture to
deny it.

And as children grow up, and their natural powers enlarge^
so these propensities grow up, and strengthen, and become more
active, and discover themselves plainer ; and from this root,
this evil fountain, many bad things soon proceed. Observe
children througli all the days of childhood, and this nature may
be easily seen in them.. ..they discover it in all their conduct in
ten thousand instances ; and there it does and will remain,—
We may break them of many bad tricks which they learn, and
bad habits which they contract, but we cannot change this prin-
ciple of their nature. They are disposed to love themselves su-
j)remelv,seek their own ends ultimately, and delight in that which
is not God wholly ; nor can we turn this bent of their hearts.
We can, after a sort, instil good principles into them — learn them
to read and pray ; and, after a sort, to honor their parents, and
love their neighbors : we can make them civil, and sober, and
humble, and modest, and religious, in a sort, but still their o/t/
nature remains in its full power : It is restrained, but not altered
at all ; yea, and after all, these their native dispositions have

156 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

the entire government of them ; their whole hearts are as mtich
bent this way as ever : and these propensities govern them in
their inward temper, and in all their conduct. They do all from
self-love, and for self-ends, and are seeking happiness,notin God,
but in something else. These things are plain to every impar-
tial observer ; nor can they be denied by any. Thus rue are all
shapen in iniquity^ and in sin are we conceived : And xve are
transgressors from the womb^andgo astray as soon as we are born.

And if we leave children, and look into ourselves, we may
easily observe that we are naturally of the same temper — incli-
ned to love ourselves supremely, and do all from self-love, and
for self-ends, and seek for happiness, not in God, but in some-
thing else. We can remember when and how we contracted
many other vicious habits, and feel some inward power to get
rid of them ; but these propensities we have always had, and
they are natural, and our whole hearts are so in them, that it is
not in us so much as sincerely to desire to be otherwise. It is
true, we may, in a sort, desire and try to alter this our nature,
from considerations of duty, of heaven and hell ; but it is all
h3'pocrisy, for we still act merely from self-love, and for self-
ends, as much as ever. We have naturally no disposition to
desire to love God, only for self-ends ; — all men are conscious
to themselves that this is true.

We are naturally entirely under the government of these dis-
positions, in all things^ and under all circu7nstances : — In all
THINGS — in all our civil and religious concerns. It is merely
from self-love, and for self-ends, that natural men follow their
worldly business, and endeavor to live peaceably with their
neighbors ; and, in these things, they are seeking blessedness :
And it is merely from self-love, and for self-ends, they do any
thing in religion ; — either they mean to be seen of men, or are
moved from a slavish fear of hell and mercenary hope of heav-
en,orfrom some other selfish considex-ation. — And, under all
CIRCUMSTANCES, we are naturally under the government of
these dispositions : In prosperity. ...then, from an inclination to
love ourselves supremely, seek our own happiness ultimately.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 157

and delight in that which is not God wholly, it is our nature to
rejoice and be glad ; and, from the same inclination, we are dis-
posed to moum, and murmur, and be discontented under adver-
sity. At the Red-Sea it was natural for the Israelites to sing
praise — at the bitter xvaters it was as natural to murmur. When
we are pleased, then we are glad — when we are crossed, then
we are sad ; but, naturally, we do not care how it goes with
God's interest in the world.. ..what becomes of his great name,
or whether his honor sinks or swims : no, there is but here and
there a Moses that cares any thing about this ; but, if they can
have their own wills, and secure their own interests, they are
content. While the spirit of God lets sinners alone, and \hcy
live secure and unconcerned, then, from the aforesaid propensi-
ties, they are after the world — one after one thing, and another
after another ; and, although they may keep up a form of reli-
gion, for fashion sake, yet, really, they care nothing about God
and things eternal. When they come to be awakened to a con-
cern for their souls, though they reform their lives, and take ve-
ry different courses from what they used to do, yet still all is
from the same principle, and for tlie same end. They have new
lives, but the same nature : They do not really care for God
or his glory, any more than they used to do, nor take any con-
tent in him ; but are only after pardon of sin, and peace of con-
science, which, according to their present sensations and appre-
hensions, thej^ think would make them happy. Sinners do not
really seek for blessedness in God himself, but in something
they hope to receive from him : And hence, when awakened
sinners come to get false comfort — think they are pardoned, and
so have peace — or think that Christ loves them, and that they
shall go to heaven, and so are filled with joy.. ..as all their joy
results from self-love merely, so all they rejoice in is what they
think they have received, and what they hope yet to receive ;
but they do not really care for God himself, (v.hose glory they
never saw), any more than they used to do — nor rejoice in him ;
and hence (ordinarily) having their consciences quieted, they
soon go back to die world again for real comfort and blessed*

158 TRUE RELIGIOX DFLINEATED, AND

ness : Or if, aftei* false comfort, they turn enthusiasts, and get to
blazing^ and wax hotter and haJtter, and seem to be full of noth-
ing but love to God, and zeal for his glory, it is visions and
dreams, revelations and impukes, a firm persuasion tliey-ai-e
the peculiar favorites of heaven, and the applause of their paity,
v/hich they live upon and take comfort in, and by which they
are animated ; and all from self-love, and for self-ends : but^
in deed and in truth, they neither know God, nor regard him
aor his glory, nor live upon him, nor delight in him, any more
tlian they used to do : and thus, in all things, and under all cir-
cumstances, unregenerate men are g-overned b^' a disposition
to love themselves supremely, live to themselves ultimately,
and delight in that which is not God whoViy : And whosoever
is well acquainted with mankind may easily see that this is, in
fact, the very case, and will naturally be led to make the same
observation with the apostle Paul, in Phil. ii. 21.. ..Allseektheir
own, and not the things which are Jesus Christ s.

And now this disposition, Avhich is thus evidently natural to
all mankind, is. dlrccihj contrary to God^s holy law. ...is exceeding
sijiful, and is the root of all xvickedness. First, it is diametrical-
ly opposite to God's holy law : for this requires us to love God
supremely, and seek his giOry ultimate!} — -in direct contrariety
whereunto, we are naturally inclined to love ourselves supreme-
ly, and live to ourselves ultimately. Again, the law requires
tis to delight in God superlatively, and choose and live upon
him as the only pox-tion of our souls — in direct contrariety where-
tinto, we are naturally inclined to place our whole hearts up-
on odier things, and live upon them, and take content in them.
Finally, the law requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves,
and do as we would be clone by — in direct contrariety where-
unto, we are naturally inclined to be inordinately selfish, and so
not to do as we would be done by : And thus we are all natu-
rally gone out of the xvay^ and, in the temper of our own minds,
become corrupt^ filthy ^ and nnproftobky and there is none right*
€ous ; no., not o;?^*.... Psalm xiv. — Rom. iii. 10-— 19. We have-
lost the image of God.... we have lost a right temper of mind....

DISTINGTJISIIED FROM ALL rOUKTKRFr.lTS. 159

We haVe lost a governing sense of the moral fitness of things....
have no eyes to see moral beauty, or hearts to taste and rclisii
the moral excelU'.ncy of spiritual and divine things....! Cor.Vu 14.
Hence^ in (iod we can see no form tior comeliness, nor in him,
at all, delight ; yea, it is natund for it to seem to us as if there
was no God.... P.'mlm xiv. 1 . And now, as though in very deed
there were no (iod for us to be in subjection unto, we set up
f<>r ourselves, to make our own interest our last end, and to seek
hlessedness, not in God, but in ^onu'thing else ; and are natu-
rally inclined, without any regard to God's law, to make our
own wills our only rule ; and now, having cast off the govei-n-
ment of God, and forsaken the fountain of living waters, we
go every one his way, one to his farm, another to his mtrchan-
iJize, all serving divers iusts cnid pleasures : So that it might
i<istlv be wondered at, how any among niankind should ever
have it enter into their hearts, to imagine that we are not fallen
creatures, universally depraved, when it is, so evidently, a |>lain
matter of fact. I think it can he owing to nothing but men's
ignorance of the law, in its spiritual nature, purity, strictness,
and extent, and their not compaiing themselves therewith : and
indeed St. Paul tells us that this is the case — Rom, vii. 8....
For xvithout the laxosinrvas dead : For did raen but rightly ap-
prehend that God is such an one as the law speaks him to be,
and that he requires us to be what really he does, they could
not possibly but see their native contrariety to God and his holy
law. The Israelites of old felt their contraiicty to their proph-
ets, and they hated them, and put them to death ; and the Phar-
isees felt their contrariety to Christ and his aposUes, and hated
them, and put them to death ; for they perceived what their
prophets, and whiU Christ and his aposdes, were dri\'ing at : but
yet, all the while, they imagined they loved God, and loved his
law, because they neither knfew God, nor understood his law :
and even so it is at this day . If an Arminian^ or Pelagian, (for,
after all their pretences, they arc, by ruiture, just like the rest
of mankind), did but verily believe God just such an one as

the godly man, in fact, sees him to be, he would feel as great a

X

IGO TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

contrai-icty to him, and enmity against him, as any Caivanist ever
supposed there was in natural men. They frame a false image
of God in their own fancies, to suit the vitiated taste of their
corrupt hearts, and then cry, We are not ejie^nics to God ; no, but
it is natural for us to love him: when, all the while, theirnative.
avei-sion to God will not so much as suffer them to believe that
there is any such Being as really he is. But, to proceed.

The aforesaid disposition, and bent of heart, which is thus
direcdy contrary to the law, /* f.rceeo'm^/?/ sinful: For, while we
love ourselves supremely, and Hve to ourselves ultimately, we
do reall)', in our hearts, and by our practice, prefer ourselves
above God, as if we were more excellent and worthy : in which
we cast infinite contempt on the Lord of glory, in as much as
all the nations are, in his sight, but as a drop of the bucket, and
gmidl dust of the balance, and we, compared with him, are less
than nothing, and vanity. He is of infinite majesty, greatness,
glory, and excellency, and all heaven adore him in the raostlium-
ble prostrations ; and yet we, w^«« worms of the dust.. . yea, t'/^
v/orms of the dust, that deserve every moment to be spurned to
hell, even we esteem and love ourselves more than we do him,
and are moi'e concerned for our interest than for his honor ;
yea, care not at all for him, or his honor, nor would ever so
much as pretend to it, if not excited thereto from the expectation
of self-advantage : and that, even allhough we receive life and
breath, and all things from him, and his right to us is original,
underived, perfect, and entire. Surely this is infinite v.icked-
ness ! and besides, in being and doing so, we aflront his sacred
authority, whereby, as Governor of the world, he commands
us to love him with all our hearts. And further, v/hile we are
inclined to take our whole delight in that which is not God....
to forsake hiir,, the fountain of living waters, the ocean of all
food, and seek comfort and content elsewhere ; v/e hereby pre-
fer the world above God — prefer our wives and children.. ..our
houses, and lands, and pleasures, above God — or, at best, we
prefer (an imaginar^ ) heaven above God : to do either of which,
casts infi:i:te contempi: upon the Lord of glory.... the delight of

DISTINGUISHED JROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 161

angels. ...the joy of the heavenly world. The Psalmist said.
Whom have Jin heaven but thee ? And there /.? nothing on earth
I desire besides f//ff<... Psalm Ixxiii. 25 ; and well might he say,
so : but to be inclined, when we are secure in sin, and not ter-
rified with hell, to love and desire anj^ thing upon cardi more
than God — and, when under terrors and fearful expectations of
wrath, to desire pardon, peace, and (an imaginars^) heaven, and
any thing to make us happy, but God himself, is surely infinite-
ly vile. We do hereby prefer that which is not God, above
God himself, as if it was really of more worth ; and so cast
infinite contempt upon the ocean of blessedness, and fountain
of all good. And besides, in this, as well as the former particular^,
we go directly contrary to the express command of the great
Governor of the whole world. Finally, to be disposed to an
inordinate (and so to a groundless) self-love, and to be swallow-
ed up in selfish views and designs, instead of a tender love, and
cordial benevolence to all o'ar fellow-men, loving them as our-
selves, is evidently contraiy to all the reason and nature of
things, and to the express command of God, which is infinitely
binding ; and so this also is infinitely sinful : And thus, these,
our native propensities, are directly contran,' to the holy law of
God, and exceedingly sinful.

But here it may be enquired — '^ If a. disposition to love our*
" selves supremely, live to ourselves ultimately, and to delight in
" thatty/j/'c/i is not Go^/ wholly, be so exceedinglv sinful, v;hcnce
*' is it that men's consciences do not any iiiore acntse and condcmji
" them tiierefor ?" To which the answer is plain and easj- ; Jc^r
this is evidently owing to their intokrabhj mean thoughts of God.
Mai. i. 6, 7, 8....^'! son honoreth his father^ and a servant his
master : If, then, I he a father^ xu/wre is mine honor ? And if I
be a master^where is mi^ fear ? saith the Lord of hosts unto yoUy
0 priests^ that despise my name : and ye say^ ]Vhcri'i)i have we
despised thy 7iame P I'c- offer poUuled bread upon mine altar ;
(and so ye despise me :) and (yet) ye say ^ Wherein have ive pol-
luted thee ? (I answer) la that (in doing- so) ye (practically)
say., The tabic rfthc Lord is contemfUibl' : (and so you treat me

1C2 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

with contempt.) And yet their consciences did not smit«
them, and therefore the Lord adds — And if ye offer the blind
for sacrifice^ is it not evil P and if ye offer the lame andsick^ is
ll not evil P (or am I so mean and contemptible, that to do so
ought not to be looked upon as an affront ? I appeal to the
common sense of mankind,) Offer it now unto thy Governor;,
will he be pleased with thee^ or accept thy person ? saith the Lord
of hosts ; (and if your Governor will take it as an affront, much
more may ^^for lam a great king, saith the Lord of hosts^
(ver. 14.) Here it is plain that it was their mean and contempt-
uous thoughts of God which made them think it would do to
turn him off any how, and widi any thing : And just so it is in
the case before us : men's thoughts of God are infinitely mean....
he is veiy contemptible in their sight ; and hence, although they
love themselves, their own honor and interest, above, the Lord
and his glory, and prefer other things, and take more delight in
that which is not God, than in God himself, yet they say —
" Wherein do we despise the Lord, affront his majesty, or cast
" contempt upon him ? We pray in secret and in our families....
" we go to meeting and to sacrament, and help to support the
*' gospel ; and is not ail this to honor the Lord ? And wherein
"• do we despise him V — Just as if going into your closet twice
a day, to quiet your conscience, and saying over the old prayer,
by rote, in your family, that you have repeated morning and
evening ever since you kept house ; and, in a customary way,
going to meeting and to sacrament., and paying your minister's
rate, (and, it may be, not without grudging,) — just as if /A/6 was
an honoring of God, when, at heart, you do not love him one jot,
nor care for his honor and interest at all, nor would do any thing
in religion but for the influence of education and common cus-
tom, or from legal fears and mercenary hopes, or merely from
some other selfish consideration : Yea, just as if this was an
Aj/jor/rtg- of God, when, all the time, you cast such infinite con-
tempt upon him in your heart, as to give your heart to another
-^— to that which is not God — to yourst;lf, and to the world ! Let
a wor.iim treat her husband so^ will he be pleased v.'ith it, imd

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUN TERTEI T 3. t^3

will he accept her person ? If she does not love her husband at
all, or delight in his person, or care for his interest — if she loves
another man.. ..has a separate interest of her own, and does noth-
in^^ for her husband but to serve her own views, will he now
think she is a ^(j</d/ ri*//^, because morning, noon, and niglit, she
prepares his food, though she does it carelessly, the victuals tiU
ways cold and poorly dressed, hardly fit to eat.. ..and he knows
it is all from want of lo\e ? And besides, she thinks she docs a
great cl€a!i^)rh.im^ and expects her/^ay, like a hired maid! — -and
she savs to her husband, " Wherein do I despise you ? Am
" not I always doing for you r" And she does not feel herself
to blame, because her husband looks so mean and contempt'il)!^
in her e\es ; and she cares so liitle for him, that any thing seems
good enough for him, while, all die time, her adulterous heart is
doating on her lovers. " You do not love me," says her hus-
band, "but other men have your heart, aPxd you are more a iv':fe
** to them than to me :" But says she, " I cannot love you, and
" I cannot but love others ;" and now she seems to herself not
to blame : So, a wicked world have such mean thoughts of God,
that they cannot love him at all, and have such high thoughts
of themselves, that they cannot but love themselves supremely :
they have such mean thoughts of God that they cannot delight
in him at all ; but they sec a glory in other things, and so in them
they cannot but delight wholly : And because they are habit-
ually insensible of God's infinite glor)', hence they are habitual-
ly insensible of the exceeding sinfulnes's of these native propen-
sities of their hearts : So that we sec that mean, contemptuous
thoughts of (iod are the very foundstion of the peace, and quiet,
and security of men, in a mere form of religion. If they did
but see who the Lord is ^\\\€y co\x\d. not but judge themselves and
all their duties to be infinitely odious in his sight. F^cdm \,
"21^22... .These things ha.'d thou done, ond I kept silence — Ihou
thoughtevt I was allcgether such an cneasthijself; but Ixvill re-
prove thee., and set them in order before thine e'jes....Novj considev
this, t/e that forget God. Men have such mean thoughts of God,
and so Hide regard him, that they are naturally inclined iofor-

164 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

get tliat there is a God, and to feel and act as if there were
none. Hence {Fsabyi xiv. 1.) — 7 lie fool sa'ith in his hearty there
is 120 God; i. e. he is inclined to feel and act as i£ there was
none ; and, therefore, it is added in die next words — ^Corrupt
arc thei/. So, the chi'dren of Eli, who treated the worship of
God with great contempt, are said to despise the Lord^ and kick
at his scicrifice ; and yet their consciences did not smite them :
and the ground of all was their mcan^ conteraptuous thoughts of
God. I. Sam. ii. 12, 29, 2>0....The sons of Eli were sons of Be-
lial^ theij knexv not the Lord. And thus we see that our native
disposition to love ourselves supremely, live to ourselves ulti-
mately, and delight wholly in that which is not God, is (wheth-
er we aresensilile of it, or not,) dii-ectly contrary to God's holy
law, and exceedingly sinful. And I add.

This native bent of our hearts is the root ofallsin^ (the posi'
tive root, I mean, in opposition to a msi'e privative cause) of all
our inv/ard corruptions and vicious practices. ...both of those
which are contrary to the frst and to the second table of the
lavv — of those which more immediately affront God, and of diose
which more especially respect our neighbor.

From this root arises all our evil carriage toxvards the Lord of
glory. This is the root of a spirit of self-sitpremacij, whereby
w^e, in our hearts, exalt ourselves and our wills above the Lord
and his will, and refuse to be controuled by him, or be in sub-
jection unto him. Jehovah ass'ames the character of most high
God, supreme Lord and sovereign Governor of the whole
world, and commands all the earth to acknowledge and obey
him as such ; but we are all naturally inclined, Pharaoh-like, to
say. Who is the Lord., that tve should obey him ? we knoxu not
the Lord., nor will we do his xvill : And hence mankind, all the
world over, break God's law, every day, before his face ; as if
they despised his authority in their hearts. And when he
crosses them in his providences, they, as though it was not his
right to govern the world, quarrel with him, because they can-
not have their oivn wilh, and go in their ow'U ways : This was
always the wa\ of the children of Israel, those forty years in

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 165

the wilderness, whose whole conduct exemplifies our nature to
the life, and in which glass we may behold our faces, and know
what manner of persons we naturally are. IVIcn love themselves
above God, and do not like his law, and hence are inclined to
set up their wills above and against his j and if ihey ca?;, they
xvill, have their wills, and go in their waj s, for all him ; and if
they camiot^ they will quanel with him : And hence the apos-
tle says, T/i€ carnal mind cs cnmiti/agahist God — is not subject to
Jiifi kav^ neitkvr indeed can ^^....Rom. vlii. 7.

And, from this root, arises a spirit of self-^srifficicnrif and in-
dcpendcncCy whereby we are lifted up in our own h.carts, and hate
to be beholden to God ; and, having difi'crent interests and ends
from him, naturally think it not safe, and so, upon the whole,
tiot liking to trust in him, choose to trust in oui selves, or any
thing, raibcrthan him. We have a better ihought of ourselves
than of God, as knowing we are disposed to be true to our own
interests and ends, and therefore had rather trust in ourselves
than in him ; and besides, we naturally hate to come upon out
knees to him for every diing : Hence, that in Jer. ii. 31. is the
native language of our hearts — We are lords, xvc will come nu
•more unto thee. Wc love to have the staff in our own hands,
for then wc can do as we will ; and hate to lie at God's mcrcv,
for thvm wc must be at his control j yea, we had rather trust in
any thing than in God, he being, of all things, most contrarv to
us : And hence, the Israelites, in their distress, would one while
make a covenant with Assyria, and then lean upon Egypt ; vca,
and rob the treasures of the temple to hire their aid, rather than
be beholden to God : Yea, they would make them Gods of sil-
ver and gold. ...of wood and stone, and then trust in such lyin^
vanities, rather than in the Lord Jehovah : Andui- face an^xi-ers
to face in the xuatcr, so docs the heart of man to mo.n....^YO\. xxvii.
19. This is our very nature.

Again, from the seme root arises -j. disposition I'j depart fr on
the Lord ; ior other things appear more glorious, and excellent,
and soul-satisfying than God — wherefore the hearts of the chil..
dren of men secredy loathe the Lord, and hanker after Oiher

166 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

things, and so go away from God tn them. Jchxxi. 12, 14....
Tlieij take the timbrel and karp^ and rejoice at the sound of the cr-
gan : Therefore thcij say unto God^ Depart from us^for xve de^
sire not the /knowledge of thy ways, — Mai. iii. 14, 15. ...7? is in
vain to serve God : ajid what profit is it that 7ve have kept his or-
dinance, and that xve have walked moiirpftdly before the Lord of
hosts? JVe call the proud happy. Meditation and prayer are a
burden to men ; they had rather be almost any where than in
their closets, because they secretly loathe the Lord : but in othe r
things thev find comfort.. ..one in his farm, and another in his
ineTchantli2e....the young man in his frolics, and with his mer-
ry companions.. ..the old man in his wife, and children, and cat-
tje, and swine, and house, and lands. ...the rich man in his riche-s
....the ambitious man in his honorf....the scholar in his books....
the man of contemplation in his nice speculations ; and, in any
thing, men can take more comfort than in God himself. That
which angels and saints in heaven, and believ^ers on earth, pri?;e
alx>ve all things, men have naturally the least account of: Psal.
\xx\u.25....Whci}iiiave I in heaven but thee ? and there is noth-
ing on earth I desire besides thee. — Jer. ii. 5, 11, 12, IS,. ..Thus
soith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me^that
they arc gone far from me, and have walked after vanitij, and be-
come vain P Hath a nation cl'.anged their gods, which are yet no
god:j P But my people have changed their glory for that which
doth not profit : Be astonished,0 ye heavens, at this, Tliey have
forsaken me, tin" fountain of living xvaters, and hexved thern out
ciatcrns, broken ciaterns, that can hold no xvater^

And, from the whole, we may see there is the greatest con-
trariety between the nature of God and the nature of the sinner :
and hence God hates sinners {^Hab. i. 13.) — and sinners hate hira
'{I<om. viii. 7.) — and when sinners come to die, and go into the
eternal world, they will feel then- that they hate him, though
their nature then will be just the same as it is noxv ; and they
will then know that the great reason they did not feel their ha-
tred of him in this world, was because they did not think nor
wou'd he'ieve that he was .'>vch an cnc.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUXTERrEITS. 167

And hence we may see whence it is that we are so averse to
right apprehensions of God, and whence it is that our insensi-
biUty of his glory, in being what he is, is so invincible, viz. be-
cause he is, in his very nature, in such perfect contrariety to us,
nnd we to him ; for to account that infinitely glorious in being
what it is, which is of a nature perfectly contrary to us, is as un*
natural as to account ourselves infinitely hateful in being what
we are ; for </u<^ necessarily impUes this : So far, therefore, as
sinners love liiemselvcs for being what thcj' are, so li\r do they
hate God for being what he is ; and so far as they hate God for
being what he is, so far their insensibility of his infinite glory,
in being just such an one, is invincible : And now, since men,
naturally, perfectly love themselves for being what they are,
and, consequently, perfectly hate God for being what he is —
hence, their minds are, naturally, perfectly prejudiced against
the true knowledge of God, and perfectly averse from, and insus-
ceptible of a sense of his infinite glory in being just what he is :
And hence it is, that neither God's word nor works, nor any
thing but his almighty spirit, can make men, in their hearts, both
really give into it that God is just such an one as he is, and in-
finitely glorious in being such. The heavens may declare the
glory of the Lord, and make the invisible things of God clear-
ly to be seen ; and the scriptures and ministers may proclaim
his greatness and glorj', and the honor of his majesty ; out sin-
ners, in seeing, will not see, and, in hearing, will not hear and
understand, for they do not like to have God in their knowl-
edge : I'hey hate the light, and love darkness ; they hate to
think that God should be such an one.. ..can see no glory in him
in being such.. ..secretly wish he was another kind of a being....
dread to think that he is what he is, and will not, if they can help
it....yohn in. 19, 20 — Rom. i. 28 — yohn viii. 43, 4-7. That
God should love himself more than he does his sinful creatures,
and value his own honor and interest more than he does our
happiness, and look upon it as an infinite affront that we are not
exacdy of the same mind, and judge us worthy of eternal dam-
nation therefor, and, as high Governor of the world, makesiuli

Y

168 TRUE RELFGION DELINEATED, AND

a law, and bind us to it, to do so — how can this suit aproudTe-
bel, that only loves himself and his own interest, and cares not
for God at all ? How can a carnal, selfish heart delight in such
a God, and account him infinitely glorious in being such ? How-
can he rejoice to hear that he sits King forever, and does all
things according to the counsel of his own will, aiming ultimate-
ly at his own glory ? Or how can he imagine that such a con-
duct, so directly cross to his temper, is infinitely right and be-
coming, glorious and excellent? The temper, the bad temiptr
of sinners' hearts, is that which renders their insensibility of
God's glory, in being what he is, so invincible. He does- not
suit them — he does not look upon things as they do — he is not
disposed, nor does he act as they would have him, but all di-
rectly contrary.. ..as contrary as light and darkness — as sin and
holiness — as heaven and hell : Therefore, the carnal mind is
enmity against God, But, to return, ■

■ From this same root — ^this disposition to love ourselves su-
premely, live to ourselves ultimately, and delight in that which
is not God wholly, proceeds all our evil carriage towards our
neighbor. Pride, selfishness, and worldliness, lay the founda-
tion for all that cheating, lying, backbiting, quarrelling, there is
among neighbors — and for all the feuds and bloody wxirs there
ever have been among all the nations of the earth, from the begin-
ning of the world ; And pride, jselfishness, and worldliness,
together with that enmity against God andtrue religion, which
is naturally concomitant, lay the foundation for all those bloody
persecutions which have been, in the several ages of the world,
against the church and people of God. If men were not proud
nor selfish, they would have no inclination to injure their neigh-
bors, in name or estate : If they took their supreme delight in
God, as the portion of their souls, they would not have any of
their little petty idols to quarrel and contend about : If they
loved their neighbors as themselves, there would never more
be any thing like persecution ; and all injuries and abuses would
cease from the eaith : So that, to conclude, as a disposition to
love God with all our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselvesi.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUKTERFEITS. 169

is an habitual conformity to the whole law, and la3-s a solid
foundation for a right carriage towards God and our neighbor,
in all things — so a disposition to love ourselves supremtlv, live
to ourselves ultimately, and delight in that which is not God
wholly, is an .habitual contrariety to the whole law, and lavs a
sad foundation for all evil carriage towards God and our felloAv-
men. And, as I said, this disposition is natural to us, and we
are naturally entirely under the government of it : and so the
seed and root of all sin is in us, even in the native tonper of
our hearts : Tliatxvhich is born ofthejlesh^ isfesh.

Ob J. But if mankind neither love God nox their neighbors xvith
a genuine love^ such as the law requires^ but naturally have^ and
are entirehj under the government ofy a spirit of contrariety to
the zvhole laWy xvheiue is it that all men do not blaspheme God, and
do all the mischief they can^ and^ in practice^ as well as in nature y
be as bad as devils ?

Ans. Because of the restraints^ which God, for wise ends
and purposes, is pleased to lay uponthem^ whereby their nature
is, indeed, not at all altered, but only, in a measure, kept from
breaking out, as otherwise it would do.. And these restraints,
in ordinary, are such as. arise from these things : — (1.) From
their, animal constitution ; whereby many are inclined to be
tender-heaited, compassionate, and kind, without any regard to
God or duty, from, a sort of natural instinct, much of the same
nature, to all appearance, as is to be found in many in the bru-
tal world. (2.) From natural a^ection ; whereby, partly from
animal nature, and partly from self-love, and from being brought
up together, relati\es have a certain fondness for one another,
and so are disposed to be kind to one another, and that without
any regard to Ciod or duty ; much as it is with, many in the
brutal world. (3.) From n good c;ducatiQn.; viherehy vmnynre
influenced to be civil in their behavior, honest in their dealings,
kind to the poor, and to pray in tlieir families, and join with
the church, Sic. though destitute of grace in their hearts. (4.)
Fromxvorldly considerations ; whereby, from self-love, in order
to avoid punishment from men, or from ftar of di.s:^iace and

170 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

reproach, or to get the good-will of others, or promote some
worldly interest, men are influenced, sometimes, to-^arry them-
selves, externally, very well. (5.) From religious considera-
tions i whereby, from self-love, the fear of hell, and the hope of
heaven, many are influenced to do much in religion. (6.)
JVant o£ speculative hioxvledge of God.... ignorance of his reso-
lution to punish sin, and of his anger against them, is also an
occasion of their not blaspheming his name ; as they will do,
as soon as ever they come into eternity, and see how things re-
ally are ; though then their nature will be exactly the same that
it is now. God gives rain and fruitful seasons, and fills the
heaits of all with food and gladness ; he makes his sun rise, and
rain fall upon the evil and unthankful, and off"ers salvation in
case they repent and believe ; whence men are ready to think
that God loves them, and this restrains them. These, and such-
like things, restrain men's corruptions ; but for which, they
\vould be as bad in this world as they will be in the next, when
these restraints come to be taken off".

To what has been said, may also be added, that God, by
these three methods, does pnuch to restrain many : — (1 .) By
his providence ; whereby he many times brings remarkable
judgments upon men for their sins ; and remaikably prespers
men, as to the things of this world, who are true to their word,
and honest in their dealings : and hereby men are afraid to be
and do as bad as otherwise they would, lest some judgment
should come upon them ; and others are influenced to be hon-
est, and to carry themselves, externally, well, in hopes of a
worldly blessing. (2.) By his word — -his written word, and
his word preached ; whereby men are made more sensible that
there is a heaven and a hell ; and so are the more restrained
and kept in awe. (3.) By his spirit ; whereby he does much
to make many a man sensible of the evil of sin, the dreadful-
ncss of damnation, and the glory of heaven, whom he never
sanctifies : whereby they are not only restrained from vicious
practices, but their coiTuptions also are greatly stunned, and
they made r.ealous promoters of religion.. ..(i¥(/'. vi. 4.) And

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 171

thus the supreme Governor of the world restrains men's corrup-
tlons, and maintains some degree of order among his rebellious
subjects.

But yet, all these restraints notwithstanding, there is, and al-
ways has been, abundance of wickedness committed in this
apostate world. They have murdered God's servants, the pro-
phets, whom the Lord has sent unto them, rising early and send-
ing ; and they have killed his Son, and his apostles, and shed
the blood of thousands and millions of his saints. So great has
been their aversion to God ! and so great their cruelty ! And
by the many wars there have been among the nations, fxom the
beginning, the whole earth has been filled with blood. And
by cheating, and lying, and backbiting, and contention, &c.
hateful and hating one another^ innumerable injuries have been
done to, and unspeakable miseries brought upon, one another.
And as soon as ever mankind have their restraints taken off at
death, without having any sin infused into their nature, they will
appear to be what they are — they will feel and act like very devils.

But, in the mean while, by means of these restraints, manv
deceive themselves ; for our corruptions being thus capable of
being i-estrained, and, as it were, stunned, and our lives of be-
ing pretty well regulated, to appearance, while our nature re-
mains the same, and we feeling ourselves able to do considera-
ble towards this — ^lience many are deceived, and take this to be
real religion, and think they did, and that others may convert
themselves, wilh but comparatively little assistance from God's
spirit : And truly so they might, if this was true religion, and
conversion consisted in thus ixforming our lives, and restrain-
ing our corruptions : But, in conversion, our very nature must
be changed, (II Cor. \. IT.) — the native bent of our hearts must
be turned, {Ezek. xxxvi. 26.) ; and from this we are naturally
wholly averse : And hence arises the absolute necessity of a su-
pernatural, irresistible grace, in order to our conversion ; — of
which more afterwards. But to retmn.

From what has been said, we see that we are natively dispo-
sed to love ourselves supremely.. ..to live to ourselves uUimate-

172 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ly, and delight in that which is not God, wholly ; and that this
disposition, by v^hich we are, naturally, entirely governed, in
all things, and under all circumstances, is in direct contrariety
to the holy law of God, and is exceedingly sinful, and is the i'oot
of all sin. ...of all cur evil carriage towards God and naan, in
heart and life : So that, as to have a disposition tclove God
•with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves, is a radical
conformity to the whole law — so this contrary disposition is a
radical contrariety to the whole law : Well, therefore, may the
holy scriptures speak of sinners as being dead in sin, and at en-
mity against God^ and, by nature, children of wrath, and repre-
sent them so frequently as being enemies to God, (Eph. ii. 1,
3 — i?o;;z. viii. 7, and v. 10 — II. Cor. v. 18 — 20.) since, by
comparing ourselves with the holy law of God, we are found to
be, infact, natively so, in the temper of our minds : And it will
be forever in vain for mankind to plead not guilty, since the law
of God is what it is, and we are what we are ; for^ by the law,
by which is the knotvledge of sin,vfQ evidently sizwd condemned.

Here it may be objected, "That we are, natively, no other-
** wise than God makes its ; and if, therefore, we are natively
" sinful, God made us so ; and, by consequence, is the author
'' cfsiri.V But this objection has-been already obviated ; for, as
has been observed, God only creates the naked essence of our
souls... .our natural faculties. „.a power to think, and will, and to
love, and hate ; and this evil bent of our hearts « not of his ma-
king, but is the spontaneous propensity of our own wills ; for
we, being born devoid of the divine image, ignorant of God,
and insensible of his glory^ do, of our own accord, turn to our-
selves, and the things of time and sense, and to any thing that
suits a graceless heart, and there all our affections centre ; from
whence we natively become averse to God, and to all that which
is spiritually good, and inclined to all sin : So that the positive
corruption of our nature is not any thing created by God, but
arises merely from a privative cause. ,

Here it will be objected v^^ian, " That it is not consistent with
" the divine perfections to bring mankind into tlie world under

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. IT'S

" such sad amd unhappy circumstances." — But xvho art thou,0
man^ that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed it^ IVhy hast thou formed me thus ? It is blas-
phemous to^ay, that it is not consistent with the divine perfec-
tions to do what God, in fact, does. It is a plain matter of
fact, that we are bom into the world devoid of the divine image,
ignorant of God, insensible of his infinite glory : And it is a
plain matter offact^^TXy'xa. consequence hereof, we are natively
disposed to love ourselves supremely, live to ourselves ultimate-
ly, and delight in that which is not God, wholly : And it is
plain, to a demonstration, that this temper is in direct contrari-
ety to God's holy law.. ..is exceedingly sinful, and is the root
of all wickedness. — Now, to say it is not consistent with the di-
vine perfections that mankind should be brought into the world,
as, IN fact, they arc, is wickedly to fly in the face of our al-
mighty Creator, and expressly charge him with unrighteous-
ness ; which, surely, does not become us. If we cannot see
into this dispensation of divine providence, yet we ought tore-
member, that God is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all
his xvorks, and that the judge of all the eay-th alxvays does right.
I do not mean that things are therefore right, merely because
God does them ; for if they were not right to be done, antece-
dentlv to his doing ofthem, he would not, he couldnotdo theme
But I mean, that when it is aplaiiunatter of fact that God docs
such a thing, we may thence conclude that it is most ccrtainlv
right for him to do so, although we cannot understand how it is.
We ought to remember that he is infinite in his understanding,
and, at one comprehensive view, beholds all things, and so can-
not but know what is right, and what is wrong, in idl cases : and
his judgment is uDbiacsed....the rectitude of his nature is per-
fect : he cannot, therefore, but do right always, and, in all in-
stances, govern the world in righteousness. But our minds are
narrow and contracted — we are but of yesterda)', and knou noth-
ing ; and besides, our judgments are biassed through our mean
thoughts of God, andliigh thoughts of ourselves ; and hence
we may be easily mistaken : Especially, in this case, our minds

174 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

are sadly biassed, and it is almost impossible for us to consider
the matter with a spirit of disinterested impartiality : And these
considerations ought to check our rising thoughts, and make us
lie down in the dust before the great, and righteous, and good
Governor of tlie world, with humble silence, even although we
cannot understand his ways : And I believe that a humble dis-
position of heart would lay an effectual foundation for us to
come to be satisfied in this matter — it being our mean thoughts
of God, and high thoughts of ourselves, which blinds our minds
that we cannot see, and disposes us, to quarrel with our Creator,
and find fault with the Ruler and disposer of the world. It is
true, that the holy scriptiuxs consider mankind as being what
they are, and say hut little about the way in which they came to
be in such a condition : And there is good reason for it j for
it is of infinitely greater importance that we should know what
a condition we are in, than how we came into it ; And it is a
foolish thing for us, and contrary to common sense, to lay the
blame any where but upon ourselves, since we are voluntarilif
such as we are, and really love to be what we are — do not sin-
cerely desire to be otherwise, but are utterly averse from it.-—
But yet the holy scriptures say so much about the way of our
coming into our present condition, as might fully satisfy our
Tninds, were not our judgments biassed ; for from them wc
learn, that man was made upright. ...was created hiGod^s image.,
and, by rebelling against his Maker ^ brought a curse upon himself
and all his race.. ..Gen. i. 27 — Eccle. vii. 29 — Rom. v. 12 — 19.
There we i-ead, that by one man^ sin entered into the world —
that bij one marCs disobedience^ many were made sinners — that
by the offence of one ^ judgment came upon all men to condemnxi"
tion. Adam was created in the image of God — it was connatu-
ral to him to love God with all hie heart, and this would have
been our case, had he not rebelled against God ; but now we
iife bom devoid of the divine image — have no heart for God-
are transgresscws from the womb..../;i/ nature children of wrath.

And if any should enquire, "But can it be right that Ad-
"am's sin should have any influence upon us ?"

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. IJS

I ansxver — It is a plain case that it actually has, and we may
depend upon it that the Judge of all the earth always does right.
And besides, why might not God make Adam our public head
and representative, to act in our room, as he has since, for our
recovery, made his own Son our public head and representative ?
„..Rom. V. 12— -21. He had as much right, power^ and author'
ity for one as for the other : and was not Adam as likely to
remain obedient as any of us should have been, and, in some
respects, more likely ? His natural powers were ripe ; he stood
not only for himself, but for all his race ; — a whole world lay at
stake : And if he had kept the covenant of his God, and se-
x;ured happiness to all his race, should we not forever have
blessed God for so good a constitution ? Never o^ce should
we have questioned God's right and authority to make him our
public head and representative, or have thought that it did not
become his wisdom and goodness to trust our all in his hands.
And if we should thus have approved this constitution, had
Adam never sinned, why might we not as justly approve
it now, if we would be but disinterestedly impartial ? It is the
same, in itself, now^ that it would have been then.. ..every wav
as holy, just, and good. — " Oh, but for God to damn a ^vhole
world for one sin !" But stay— does not this arise from mean
thoughts of God, and high thoughts of yourself ? O, think who
the Lord is ! and what it is for a worm to rise in rebellion
against him ! and how he treated whole thousands of glorious
angels for their first sin ! and then, think how God drowned
the old world.. ..huint Sodom.,..vind oi the dreadful things he in-
tends to do to the impenitent at the day of judgment ! and
leani, and believe, that sin is an infinitely greater evil than we
naturally imagine.

But I must return to my subgect,for it is not my present busi-
ness so much to show ho7v we came into this cojidition, as plain-
ly to point out ivhat that condition isy xvhich xve are actually in.
As to this, the whole scriptures are very plain ; but especially
the /orw, by which is the /knowledge o/'^/n, clearly discovers v/hat
our case is, and, bevond dispute, proves that all are under sin.

z

176 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

And having already, by connparing ourselves with the law,
found out what our nature is, I proceed to make some furflier
cJbservations, in which I design greater brevity.

4. 'From what has been said, we may learn that the very hest
religious performances of all unregenerate men are, complexly
considered, sinful, and so^ odious in the sight of God. They
may do many things materially good^ but xhe principle, end^ and
manner of them are such, as thati, complexly considered^ what
they do is sin in the sight of God : For sin is a transgression
of the Icrw. But,

(1 .) The lav/ requires all mankind to do every duty out of
love to God, and for his glory: But all unregenerate persons,
directly contrary to law, do every duty merely out of love to
themselves, and for self-ends ; and so, are guilty of rebellion.

(2.) The law requires all mankind to do every duty oiit of
love to God, and for his glory : But all unregenerate persons
do every duty merely out of love to themselves, and for self-
ends ; whereby they prefer themselves, and their interest, above
God and his glory ; and so, are guilty of spiritual idolatry.

(3.) The law requires all mankind to do every duty fromlove
to God, and for his glory : But all unregenerate persons do ev-
ery duty merely from self-love, and for self-ends ; and yet hijp-
ocriticaUy pretend to God, that they love and obey him ; and so,
are guilty of vwcking God.

■(^4.) The law supposes that God infinitely deserves io he
loved with all our hearts, and obeyed in every thing, and that
our neighbor deserves to be loved as ourselves ; and that, there-
fore, if we should yield perfect obedience in all things, yet we
should deserve no thanks : But all unregenerate persons make
much of their duties, though such miserable, poor things ; and
so, affront God to his very face.

Upon xht^cfour accounts, their very best performances are
done in a manner directly contrary to the law of God, and so are
sinful, and therefore odious in the sight of God : (Prov. xv, 8,
and xxi. 27 — Rom. viii. 8 — Psalm Ixxxviii. 36, 37.) As is the
tree, so is the fruit — as is the fountain, so are the streams ; and

DISTIKGUISIIED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 177

as is the man, so are his doings, in the sight of God, who looks
at tlie heart, (^.Mat. xii. 53^ 34, 35,) and judges not according
to appearance, but judges righteous judgment ; and with whoiyi
manv things, that are highly esteemed among men, v.vq abom\- .
nation.

And if their best religious performances are thus odious ki
the siglit of God, it is certain that they cannot possibly, in the
nature of things, have the least tendency to raalce amends for
their past sins, or recommend diem to the divine favor ; but
rather tend to provoke God still more : So that it is not of him
that xvills^ nor of him that runs^ but of God that .shows vicrcij.
Nor is there the least hope in the sinner's case, but what arises
from the sovereign mercy of God j w hereby he can haveniercy
on whom he xvill have 7ncrci/y cm J have compassion on xvhom he
iviil have co?}ipassio7i... M-oni. IX. 15, 18.

True, some, being ignorant of the law, and of our entire
contrariety to it, have fancied a goodness in the sinner's duties ;
and hence have persuaded themselves that diere are promises
of special grace made to them : — .Not that there are any pronv
ises in scripture, of that nature ; for the scripture everywhere
considers us as being, while imregenerate, dead in .w/2....Eph.
ii. 1 — Enemies to Gor/....Rom, v. 10 — II. Cor. v. 17 — 20 —
Col. i. 21 — yc2L^ enmiti/ against him. ...Horn. viii. 7 — and so
far from any true and acceptable obedience to God, as that wp
are not, nor can he subject to the law, and so cannot picase Go(l
....Rom. viii. 7, 8 — and every where represents such as being
under thexvrath of God.. ..the curse of the laxu, and a present
condemnation.. ..]o\\n iii. 18, 36 — Rom. i. 18— ^GrJ. iii. 10,:
But the real ground of their opinion is, their i{i;norance of the
sinner's sinful, guilty circumstances, and tlieirfond conceit that
there is some real goodness in what the sinner does : both wiiich
are owing to their ignorance of the law,* and of the nature of

* It is maii'ifest that this notion of the pronaises, of which Pelaghis was
the author, and which was condeiniied for lieresy above 1300 years aj:;o,
did, with him, and does, with his followers, take its rise, originally, from
tlicir ijrnorancc of th'^.nature and meaning of tlie moral law. But\et '.,o\\:<i
good men niay have been inadvertently led into this error by the force of

179 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

true holiness. .../?om. vii. 8, 9 — Ro7n. x. 3. All will own, that
if sinners' duties are such as I have represented, it is absurd,
and even inconsistent with the divine perfections, that promises
of special grace should be made to them.

It is true they refer to Mat. xxv. 29.... To him that hath^ shall
be given. But that text evidently speaks of the final rewards
which shall be given to the godly at the day of judgment ; when
all the unregenerate shall, with the slothful serva7it^ be cast into
outer darkness. They quote also Mat. vii. 7. ...Ask and you
shall receive^ &.c. But the condition of this promise was never
yet performed by an unregenerate sinner : For this askiyig is
meant right asking ; for those who ask amiss, receive nothing
....James iv. 3. Right asking of grace, supposes right desires
of it ; but the unregenerate are, in the habitual temper of their
hearts, directly contrsr)'to grace and all spiritual good, and en-
tirely so, as has been proved : But to have genuine desires af-
ter a thing, and a perfect contrariety to it, in the whole heart, at
the same time, is an express contradiction. The reason that
sinners many times think that they love holiness, and desire
heartily and sincerely to be 77iade holy, is, that they, being ig-
norant of the nature of true holiness, have framed :[ false i7nage
of it in their own fancies. Did they but distinctly know the
very thing itself their native contrariety to it could no longer be
hid....i?c;n. vii. 8,9. So the Pharisees thought they loved God,
and loved his law ; although, at the same time, they perfectly
h;tted the Son of God, v/ho was the express image of his Father,
and came into the world to do honor to his Father's law. They
h;\d v/rong notions of God, and of his law.

Obj. But this tends to drive sinners to despair.

Ak3. Only to despair of being saved by their own righteous-
ness, which they must be driven to, or they will never submit to be
saved by free grace through Jesus Christ.../?o??z.vii. 8,9,andx. 3.

education. 1 believe men's hearts may be sometimes better than their
heads : but when a false scheme of religion does perfectly suit a man's
heart, and express the temper of his mind, then, no doubt, he is graceless
a.. .11. yo.b.i is. and yuhn viii. 47'. The above uodou of the promises per-
fectly suitt a telf-righteous heart,

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 179

Ob J. But^ if these things be true^ there is not any motive to
excite a poor sinner to reform^ or pray^ or read^ or do any thing.

Ans. By which it is plain, that a sinner cares not a jot for
God, and will not go one step in religion, only for what he can
get : and if such a sinner had ever so many motives, he would
only serve himself, but not serve God at all. And what en-
couragement can God, consistent with his honor, give to such
an one, since he merits hell every moment, even by his best du-
ties, but only that which St. Peter gave to Simon JVIagus ? Acts
viii. 22.... Repent^ and pray to God^ if per auve^tvke the wick-
edness of thy heart may be forgiven thee.

Oiij. But this way of reasoning tvill make sinners leave off
seeking and strivings and sit down discouraged.

Ans. Not if sinners are but effectually awakened to see how
dreadful damnation is ; for a bare who can tell? will make such
resolve to run, and fight, and strive, and beg, and pray, till they
die ; and if they perish, to perish at God's foot : And as for
others, all their courage arises from their not seeing what wretch-
ed, miserable, sinful, guilty creatures they are ; and so must
be dashed to pieces, sooner or later, in this world or the next,
whenever their eyes come to be opened. And if God ever, in
this world, shows them what they are, they will thereby per-
ceive what danger they are in : and noxv a mere xvho can tell ?
will make them also resolve to run for eternal salvation, till their
very last breath. It is best that false confidence should be kill-
ed ; and this way of reasoning does not, in the least, tend to hurt
any other : It is best that sinners should know the worst of
their case j and this way of reasoning does not tend to make it
appear a jot worse than it is.

O B J. But what good does it do for sinners to be in such earnest
to reform., read^ watch^pray^ run^fight^strive^ as for their lives^
since all they do is sin^ and God will have mercy only on whom
he will have 7nercy.

Ans. (I.) It is less sin to do these things, than not to do them.

(2.) Sinners never will be in such earnest, only when God
comes to awaken and convince, and so to make them effectual-

180 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ly sensible of the dreadful state they are in j and it is not any
discouragements that can keep them from being in such earnest
then^ so long as the least hope appears in their case. Other
people care but little about eternal things, and do but very little
in religion, but what education, custom, the fashion, and their

• worldly interest, excite them unto. Most people think it so
easy a thing to be saved, as that they look upon such great con-
cern and earnestness as perfect frcnzj'.

* (3^ This great earnestness gf aw akened sinners makes them
try their strength to purpose ; whereby they come to be experi-
mentally convinced that it is not in their hearts to love Godjie
sony for sin, or do iuiy thing that is good; whereby the high
conceit they used to have of their ability and good nature is
brought down, and tliey feel and find that they are enemies to
God, and dead in sin : and hereby a foundation is laid for them
to see the justice of God in their damnation, and so the reason-
ableness of God's having mercy only on whom he will have
mercy : And thus, the law, though it camiot give lifc^ yet is a
school-master to bring men to Christ : And thus the main good
the awJ^Lcned sinner gets, by going to this school-master^ is ef-

■ fectually to learn his need of Christ, and of the free grace of
God through h\m..,.Ror/i. vii. 8, 9... .Gal. iii. 21 — 24: This is
the gieat end God l»as in view, and this end all the sinner's, ear-
nest strivings are well calculated to obtain.,

5. From what has been said, we may learn the mdureofa
saving conversion^ and the manner xvherein it it zvrought.. Con-
version consists in our being recovered, from our present sinful-
ness, to the moral image of God ; or, which is the same thing,
to a real conformity to the moral lav/ : But a conformity to the
moral law consists in a disposition to love God supren>ely, live
to him ultimately, and delight in.him superlati\'ely — and to love
our neighbor as ourselves..^, and a practice agreeable thereto :
And therefore conversion consists in our being recovered from
what we are by nature, to such a disposition and practice.

And now, in order to such a glorious renovation arid recove-
ry, God, by his spirit, sets home the lavr upon the sinner's heart,

DIS-rtlfGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 18I

causing him to see and feel, to purpose, just how he has lived,
and what he is, and what he deserves, and how he is in the hands
of a sovereign God, and at his disposal ; whereby the hindran-
ces which were in the way of his conversion, are, in a sort, re-
moved. Rom. vii. 8, 9.... For xvhhcnit the law^ sin xvas dead :
For I was alive without the law once ; but When the coimyrand-
ment came^ sin revived^ and Idled : And then God, who co?n-
manded the light to shine otit of darhtess^ shines in the heart ^atid
gives the light of the knoxvledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ... .11. Cor. iv. 6. And now a sense of the glory
of God and divine things being thus imparted to the soul by the
spirit of God, and the sinner being raised up from spiritual
death to spiritual life, does return home to God through Jesus
Christ, venturing his soul and immortal concerns upon the free
grace of (jod, and through him gives up himself to God, to be
his forever — to love him supremely — ^live to him entirely, and
delight in him superlatively, and forever to walk in all his ways :
and hereby, at the same time, the man's lieart begins to be ha-
bitually framed to love his neighbor as himself, with a disinter-
ested impartiality ; and thus an effectual foundation is laid for
universal external obedience, and that from genuine principles.
And as the divine life is thus begun, so it is carried on in the
soul much after the same manner. The spirit of God shews
the believer, more and more, what apoor, sinful, hell-deserving
wretch he is in himself, and so makes him more and more sen-
sible of his absolute need of free grace, through Jesus Christ, to
pardon and to sanctify him. He grows in a senr,e of these
things all his days ; whereby his heart is kept humble, and Christ
and free grace made more precious. The spirit of God she%vs
the believer, more and more, ot the infinite gloiy and excellen-
cy of God, whereby he is more and more influenced to love
him, live to him, and delight in him with all his heart: and,
by the whole, his heart is framet} more and more to love his
neighbor as himself ; And thus tiie patJi ofihejtist is liJiC a ski'
iiing lighty that shines more and more, to the perfect day^ (Prov.
iv. 18.) ; only, it must be observed, that the spirit's opej-ations.

182 TRUE REJLIGION DELINEATED, AND

after conversion, are attended with two differences, arising from
two causes : — (1.) From the different state of the subject
wrought upon. The believer not being under the law as a cov-
enant, is not, by the spirit, filled with those legal terrors arising
from the fears of hell, as heretofore he was....i?om. viii. 15 ;
but only is made sensible of his remaining sinfulness, and the
sinfulness and desert of sin, and of God's fatherly displeasure j
and hereby his heart is humbled and broken : Indeed, hereby
he is many times filled with unspeakable anguish and bitterness
of soul. His sins are ever before his eyes, and his bones wax
eld through his roaring all the day /ow^.... Psalm xxiii. 3, and
li. 3. He is troubled..,. he is bowed down greatly. ...he goes mourn-
ing all the day /on^....Psalm xxxviii. 1 — 6. But these awa-
kening, convincing, humbling, mourning, purifying times, al-
ways end in peace and joy, and rest in God — attended with a
greater degree of tenderness of conscience and holy watchful-
ness, and followed with bringing forth more fruit.... P^a/m xcvii.
1 1 , and cxxvi. 5, 6. — Psalm xxxii. 5, and Ixxiii. 25 — 28. — John

XV. 2. — II. Cor. vii. 10, 11. — Heb. xii. 11 Hos. ii. 6, r, 14, 15.

{2.) From the different nature of the subject wrought upon.
The believer not being under the full power of sin, and at per-
fect enmity against God, as once he was, hence does not resist
the spirit with the whole heart, while he takes down the power
of sin, as heretofore he did ; but has a genuine disposition to
Join in on God's side, and say, " Let me be effectually weaned
*' from the world, and humbled, and made holy and heavenly,
*' and be brought into an entire subjection to God in all things,
*' though by naeans and methods ever so cross to flesh and blood :
" Let me be stript naked of allworldly comforts, and let Shimei
** curse, and all outward evils and inward anguish of heart come
** upon me, if nothing else will doi Here, Lord, I am in thy
" hands ; chasten, correct, do what thou wilt with me, only let
*' sin die— sin, thine enemy, the worst evil, and the greatest
** burden oimy soiil."..../?OM. vii. 24. — II. Cor. iv. 8, 9, 16.—
Jamc^i 1. 2. — Psalm cxix. 71. — Heh. xii. 9. And he is not only
thus willing that God should, by any methods, take down the

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COXyNTERFLlTS. 183

power of sin in the heart, but also joins in with the methods of
<liviae iprace, and, by watching and praying, and by fighting and
■striving, seeks the deatli of every corruption : And fiom his
thus joinirig in on God's side against the fleshy he is said, in scrip-
ture, to cruc/fy /Y....Cal. v. 24 — and fo xiork cut his oxvn salvO'
■^/(5«....Phil. ii. 13.

Frpnii what has been said under this head, we may see that
a saving conversion diffx^rs vcr)' much from the conversion of
these jTowr sorts of men : — (1.) T/ie xvorUbj hijpocritc ; who
snakes n profession of religion. ...does many things. ...appeafs
aealous, aikl pretends to be a good man, merel)' from worldly
considerations, and to be seen oS.vi\^x\....Mat. xxiii. 5. (2.)
The hyal hijpocr'itc ; whose conversion is nothing else but a
leaving off his vicious practices, and turning to be strict and
conscientious in external duties, in hopes dicreby to make
Amends for his past sins, and recommend himself to God ; and
fio escape hell, and get to heaven. ...i?c;7z. x. 3. (3.) The evan-
gelical htjpocrite ; whose conversion was nothing else but this :
• — lie was awakened to see his sins, and terrified with fear of
hell, and humbled, in a measure, but not thoroughly.. ..but great
light broke into his mind, and now he believes that Christ loves
him, and has pardoned all his sins, and so is filled with jovand
eeal, and is become quite another man ; but, still, has no
grace.... vyaf. xiii. 20 — Heb, vi. 4-*-II. Pet. ii. 20 : These
usually either fall away to carnal security, or, being puffed up
v.ith pride, turn enthusiasts. (4.) The rvildy blazing enthin-i"
ast — whose conversion nil arises /?o;7i imoginary notions. He
has an imaginary sight of his sin.. ..his heart.. ..the wrath of God
....of hell and the devil, and is terribly distressed: and then
he sees Christ in a bodily shape, it may be on the cross with
his blood running, or, seatcH. on a throne of glorj' at his[f^\ther's
right hand — he sees a great light shining all round him.. ..hears
llie angels sing.. ..sees visions.. ..hears voices. ...has rcvelations,
and thinks himself one of the vcrj' best saints in the whole world,
thf)ugh, in trudi, he, by scandalous practices, or heretical prin-
ciples, or both, soon appeal's to be seven times more a child of

A A

184 TRUE RllLIGlON DELINEATED, AND

the devil than he was before : However, in his own conceit,
he knows infallibly that he is right, and all the world cannot con-
vince him to the contrary : Yea, he is fit, at once, to be a min-
ister, though ignorant of the first principles of religion ; he is
inspired by God, and whoever likes him not is an enemy to Je-
sus Christ, he doubts not at all. These are the tares the de-
vil sows, by means of whom the ways of God are evil spoken
Gt,..MaU xiii. 39—11. Cor. xi. 14—1. Tim. i. 7.

Now these several sorts of religion, the true and the false,
growing up from these several roots, do all receive a different
nourishment, according to their different nature ; through which
nourishment they grow and increase ; and through the want of
which they decay. The good man^ the greater sense he has of
God's infinite glory, as he has revealed himself in the law and
in the gospel, so, proportionably, does his religion flourish and
grow in all its various branches, and shine with a heavenly lus-
tre : The worldly hypocrite lays out himself most in religion,
when there are the most to observe and applaud him : The le-
gal hypocrite f when his conscience is most terrified with the
thoughts of death, judgment, and eternity : Kw^the evangelical
hypocrite has his affections raised, his love, and joy, and zeal,
in proportion to his supposed discoveries of the love of Christ
to him, in particular, and sense of the glories of a (fancied) heav-
en : And, finally, the blazing enthusiast is more or less lively in
religion according as he has dreams, hears voices, has impres-
sions and revelations, and is applauded by his party. And, ac-
cordingly, those different sorts of religion will grow and thrive
the best under such different sorts of preaching as suits their
several natures : And men will cry up those ministers most,
whose preaching and conduct agree with their hearts the best.
Mic. iv. 5....For all people will walk, everyone in the name of his
God: And true believers will walk in the name of the Lord
their God.

6. From all that has been said, we may leani that a sinner is
naturally disposed to resist the spirit of God -with all his viight^
when he comes to awaken, convince, and humble him.. ..to take

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 185

down the power of sin in his heart, and turn him to God. —
Conversion consists in our being recovered from the sinful state
we are in, by nature, to a real conformity to the divine kw ; i.
e. in our being recovered from a disposition to love ourselves
supremely, live to ourselves ultimately, and delight in that which
is not God wholly.. ..and a practice agreeable to this disposition ;.
. — to a disposition to love God supremely, live to him idtiinate-
ly, and delight in him superlatively, and to love our neighbors as
ourselves...Hnd a practice agreeable thereto ; i.e. in other words>
in our being recovered from one disposition, to another directly
contrarj- to it — even so contrary, that the first must die, in or-
der to the other^s existence. This disposition, from which we
^e to be reco\ ered, is not any habit contracted merely by cus-
tom, which might more easily be parted with ; but it is connat-
ui*al to us — a disposition rooted, as it were, in our very nature,
and which has the full possession of our souls, and the entire
government of om* hearts ; — in a word, a disposition which we
in every respect perfectly love, and which wc perfectly hate
should be ever crossed, and which yet must be slain, or we nev-
er converted. Now, if ever a sinner be recovered from this
disposition, it is evident it must be against the very grain of his
heart : his heart, therefore, will make the utmost resistance it
possibly can.

If we were entirely renewed in an instant, without zm pre-
vious strivings of the spirit, then, indeed, there would be no room
nor time for resistance ; but, othenvise, the heart will resist :
If there were the least disposition in our hearts, contrary to our
natural disposition to love ourselves supremelv, live to ourselves
ultimately, and delight in that which is not God wholl}-, it might
join in on God's side. ..be sincerely desirous that God would slay
the enmity of our hearts ; but there is not : The carnal mind is
wholly enmity against God — is not subject to his law, nor can
be ; and so the whole heart will miike resistance. It the dis-
position, to which we are recovered in conversion, were not so
directly contrary to our natural disposition, as that our natural
disposition must be slain, in order to the veiy being of that, the

186 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

sinner's opposition might not be so great ; but, when all that is
wiihin him is directly crossed and going to be killed, all that is
within him will oppose and resist, till slain. We are, by nature^
wholly in thcjiesh and after thefesh : According to a scripture-
phrase, fhut -tu/iich is born of thefesh^ isfcsh ; and, by conver-
sion, we are to become spirit. ...That which is born of the spirit^
is spirit. But \ki& flesh and the spirit are, in scripture, repre"*
sented as being contrary the one to the other : WiWfesh^ then,
of its own accord, become spirit ? No, surely : for thefesh lust-
eth against the spirit ; i. e. is wholly averse from it, and set against
it : so that there is no other wav but for thefesh to be criicifed^
with the affections and lusts : But the fesh perfecthj hates this
death, and therefore will resist -with all its might. ...Rom. viii.
7, 8 — -John iii. 5 — Gal. v. 17 — Rom. vi. 6.

As the truth of this point is thus evident, from the reason
and nature of things, so it is farther confirmed from constant
experience : For, let any man read the Bible with attention, and
he may plainly see that the very thing which God has always
been aiming at, in all the external means he has used with his
professing people, in every age of the world, has been to recover
them to a conformity to his holy laxv, in heart and life ; i. e. to
recover them from a disposition to lo^•e themselves supremely,
live to themselves ultimately, and delight in that which is not
God wholly, and a practice agreeable thereunto, to a dis-
position to love God supreinely, live to him ultimately, and de-
light in him superlatively, and to love their neighbors as them-
selves, and to practise accordingly : For on these tvjo commands
hang all the laxv and the prophets. And we may also
plainly see, that God's professing people have always manifest-
ed the greatest aversion to hearken to the /aryandto the proph-
ets ydixidi so to die to themselves, the world, and sin ; and thus to
give up themselves to God, to love him, live to him, delight in
him, and walk in all his ways. God sent all his servants, the
prophets^ to the children of Israel, rising early and sending ;
but they always hated their words, and so stopped their ears,
and refusedto obey : yea, they fell into a rage at them, and, in

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 187

tJieir rage, they mocked them....the3^ scourged them. ...they
bound them. ...they imprisoned them. ...they stoned them.... they
sawed them asunder, and made the rest wander about in deserts
and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, in sheep-
skins and goat-skins, destitute, aftlicted, tormented.. ../fcr?. xi.
35—38 : And when God sent his well-belorcd Son to call a
wicked world to retiu-n home unto him, they said, Comc^ let ua kill
hfm....M:\L xxi. Z2> — 39. And when C'lri'st sent his apostles to
carry the glad tidings of pardon and peace to the ends of the
earth, and call all men to repent and be converted — to retiu-n,
and love, and serve the li\ing God, both 'Jt'i'o'i and Genfiles con-
spired together against them, and killed them — -just as the ten
tribes killed the messenger whom Rehoboam sent unto them,
to call and invite tliem to return to their former allegiance....!.
Kings xii. 1 8. Therefore, says our blessed Savior to the Jews,
who pretended great love to Ciod and to the law, and mightily
to honor their prophets, 2'ou are like xvhited sepulchres ; you
appear outnvardiij righteous^ but imvurdly arc full of all hijpocri'
9y and xvickedncss. Tour fathers killed the prophets^ whom ijou
pretend to honor ^ but you are full as bad as they xvere. Teser-*
pents. ...ye generation of vipers^hc. Wherefore^ behold^ Isendun"
to you prophets^ andxvise men^and scribes ; and some of them ye
shall kill and crucify^ and some of them ye shall scourge in i/our
synagogties^ and persecute them from city to city. 0 Jerusalem.,
feruscdem^ thou that killcst the prophets^ and stonest them that
are sent unto thee^ how often would I have gathered thy children
together s even as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings ^
and ye would not .'...Mat. xxiii. 27 — 37. From all which,
nothing can be plainer, than that this rebellious, Gv^d-huting
world always have been set against a return to God, and been
disposed to do all diey could, to render all means ineflpectual.
Well might St. Stephen, therefore, say unto the Jews as he did,
m Acts vii. 5\....7'e stijf-yieckcd^and uncircumcised in heart and
ears^ ye do always resist the holy Ghost : as your fathers did^
so do ye : nor had they any reason to be angry with him therefor.
And as all, who have enjoyed the cxterniU means of grace,

188 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

have thus been disposed to hate the light.... shut their eyes....
stop their ears, and refuse to hear, and been utterly opposed to
a return to God ; so this is evidently the case with all whom
God has inwardly wrought upon by his spirit — as all know, who
have either had any experience themselves, or have candidly
observed the experience of others : And, indeed, it nmst be
so ; for the very same temper which will make men resist the
outward^ will also dispose them to resist the hiivard means of
grace. For the holy spirit teaches and urges the very same
things that 3Ioses and the prophets^ and Christ and his apostles
teach and urge, and pursues the same end ; and will, therefore,
of consequence, meet with the same opposition and resistance,
from the very same quarter. This is the condeinnation^ that
light has come into the ivorld^ and men love darkness rather than,
lights because their deeds are evi!....He that doth evil hateth the
light. ...^ohn iii. 19, 20. That light which will discover men's
evil deeds, and shew them their fallen, sinful, guilty, helpless,
undone condition. ...and so spoil all their worldly, carnal com-
forts, the very idols of their hearts. ...and also kill their legal,
self-righteous hopes, which is all the awakened and concerned
sinner has, to his own sense and apprehension, to depend upon
— ^that light which affects things, which are so directly cross to
the inward temper of the sinner's heart, he will naturally be dis-
posed to hate.... shut his eyes against.. .flee from and resist with
all his might ; and that whether it comes from the external iQ^Lch-
ings of the word, or internal teachings of the spirit : Yea,
so long as there is the least remainder of corruption left in be-
lievers themselves, it will hate to die, and struggle widi all its
might to keep its ground — ^j'-ea, and to recover its former do-
minion : Rom. vii. 22.... I see another law in my 7nemb€rs^ war'
ring against the lazv in my mind^ and bringing me inta captivity
to the law ofsiny which is in my members : Yea, it implies a con-
tradiction to suppose corruption can in any case be willing to
die ; for every temper in our hearts naturally loves to be grat-
ified and pleased, and it is a contradiction to suppose it can, at
the same time^ be willing to be crossed and killed....Gc/. v. IT.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 189

Ob J. But do not awakened sinners eamcsfh/ desire to repent of
<md be humbled for their sins^ and to rnortifif their corruptionsj
and to give up themselves to God^ to love and live to him ? And
do they not earnestly pray for the divine spirit to assist them, so
to do P Hoxv can they then be disposed, at the same titiie^ to make
such mighty resistance.

Ans. (1 .) Awakened sinners see themselves in great danger,
and they therefore earnestly desire and seek after self-preserva-
tion ; and this is plainly owing to nature, and not to any grace
orgoodness in their hearts. Psalm Ixvi. ^...Through the great'
ness of thy power ^ thine enemies submit themselves unto thee; \. e.
they feign a submission, but they are thine enemies. — (2.) That
which moves them to desire to repent, be humbled, &c. is, they
hope by these means to make amends for their past sins, and
ingratiate themselves into the favor oi God.. ..Rom. x. 3. ; i. e.
merely from self-love, with pure hypocrisy, they would impose
upon God : For (3.) after all their pretences, desires, and pray-
ers, their nature and temper is just what it used to be ; and
w^ere they Ixit delivered from the fears of hell, and left at full
liberty to follow their own inclinations, they would live as vi-
tiously as ever they did. — (4.) Yet they pretend to love God,
and would fain have him believe them sincere, and are ready to
expect acceptance for what they do, and to think it hard if God
should not accept them. Now, if it was the work of the spirit
of God, to buildup such a sinner in this hypocritical, sclf-right-
£0us way, he might be disposed, while under his fears and ter-
ror, to concur and fall in with the spirit's influence ; and all
merely from self-love and for self-ends: But ifthe spirit of God
goes about to bring home the law in its strictness, and shew such
a sinner the very truth, that he does not love God, nor desire
to.. ..that his desires, and prayers, and tears, are all hj-pocritical...,
that he is still dead in sin, and an enemy to God. ...that he de-
serves to be damned as much as ever he did. ...that God is at
liberty, all his duties notwithstanding, to reject him. ...that he
lies absolutely at God's mercy ; now he will hate the light, shut
his eyes against it, quarrel at it, and resist it widi all his might.

190 TRUE P.EilGION DELINEATED, AND

It is exceedingly hard for the poor sinner, when he begins to be
awakened, to part with a vain Ufe, and vain companions.... his
carnal ease and comfort, and all vicious courses — ^to make resti-
tution to those he has wronged in name or estate, and give him-
self to reading, meditation, and pra^•er, and to a serious, morti-
fying way of living : he cannot bear the thoughts — would fain
contrive an easier way, or else delay, for the present, so mourn-
ful and tedious a work : But when, by the di-eadful fears of
hell and eternal damnation, he has been brought, after much re-
luctance and unwillingness, to a forced consent to all this, ho-
ping thereby to appease the divine wrath and procure the divine
favor — now, to have all his self-righteous hopes dashed and
confounded, by a sight of the badness of his heart, bv seeing he
has no love to God. ...no sorroAV for sin. ...no inclination to be
holv, but averse to God and all that is good, and that all his for-
ced goodness has no virtue in it.. ..that he i&\ et under the whole
guilt of all his sin. ...under condemnation of the law and the wrath
of God.. ..dead in sin. ...an enemy to God. ...absolutely at God's
mercy ; — this, this, I seiy, is dreadful indeed, and far more cross
to the very grain of the sinner's heart than all he ever met with
before. Here, therefore, there will be the greatest struggle,
and strongest resistance, before ever the sinner can, by the spir-
it of God, be brought clearly to see and give into these things ;
for all these things are directly cross to the sinner's disposition
to love himself supremely, and live to himself ultimately — di-
rectly cross to a spirit of self-supremacy and independence. —
The sinner cannot bear that God should be so great and so
sovereign, and himself so vile. ...so little.. .so absolutely at mercy :
it is a kilUng thing. When the commandment came, sin revi-
ved, and I died : So that it is plain, that, notwithstanding all
the awakened sinner's selfish desires and prayers, yet, in the
habitual temper of his heart, he stands disposed to resist
the influences of the divine spirit with all his might. He is
so far from being willing to repent of his sins, that he is ut-
terly unwillling to see and own his sinfulness — so far from
desiring to be humbled, that he is by no means willing to see

DISTINGUISHED fROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 191

the cause and reason he has to be hunihled — so far from desi-
ring to be made spirituall}' alive, that he will not so much as own
that he is spiritually dead — so far from desiring the gracious
influences of the holy spirit to reconcile him to God, that he will
not own that he is an enemy to God.. .but would fain think that
he heartily desires to love God, and stands ready to hate and
resist that light, which would discover the enmity of his heart.
He that doth evil^ hateth the light^ and flees from it, lest his evil
deeds be discovered ; and, for the same reason, he that hath an
evil heart hate* the light and resists it, lest the badness of his
heart be discovered.

7. From all that has been said, we may learn that those in-r
Jluences of the spirit^ which will be sufficient cffcctualhj to awa-
ken, convince, and humble the sinner, and recover him to God,
must be irresistible and supernatural. That the internal influ-
ences of the holy spirit are necessary to recover sinners to God,
is so plainly held forth every where in the Bible, that the Ar^
ftiinians themselves do not deny it : But how 7?iuch, and xvhat
kmd of influences are needful, is very much disputed. Now so
much^ and such sort of influences are, beyond dispute, 7ieedfid^
as will be suffcient effectually to answer the end^ and without
which no sinner will ever be converted : This is self-evident.
If sinners were so good-natured as to see, and feci, and own
their sinfulness, and the justice of the sentence whereby they
stand condemned, and die to themselves, the world and sin,
and return home to God, through Jesus Christ. ...to love him,
live to him, and delight in him forever, of their own accord,
merely upon reading the iSible, and hearing the law and the
gospel preached, then there would be no need of any inward
influences of the spirit at all ; or, if thev weresogood-natiwed
Rs to be easily persuaded to do so, then some small degree of the
inward influences of the spirit would do : But if, in Uie first
place ^ \\\<rf are altogether unwilling to see, and fc el, and own
ihcir sin and guilt, and the justice of their condemnation accor-
ding to law, and entirely disposed to liate and resist the li^it,

li.i halh but just now been proved, then ihev must be brought

B B

192 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

to it by an all-conquering^ irresistible grace, or not at all : And
if, in the second place^ the clearest sight and greatest sense a nat-
ural man can have of what God is, instead of making him appear
infinitely glorious and amiable in the eyes of one whose heart
is dead in sin, and diametrically opposite to the divine nature,
will rather irritate corruption, and make the native enmity of
the heart ferment and rage, and become but the more apparent
and sensible, as has been heretofore proved, then there must
be a supernatural^ spiritual^ and divine change wrought in the
heart, by the immediate influences of the spirit of God, M'^hereby
it shall become natural to look upon God as infinitely gloi-ious
and amiable in being what he is, and so a foundation hereby
laid for us to love him with all our heaits, and so sincerely to
repent, return, and give up ourselves to him, to live to him, and
delight in him forever ; — I say, if these things be so, there must
be such a change wrought by the spirit of God, or not one sin-
ner in the world will ever be converted to God : and, therefore,
that there is an absolute necessity of such influences of the spirit
of God, in order to a saving conversion, is evident, toademon-
sU'ation, from the very reason and nature of things. God him-
self must take away the heart of stone, and give an heart of flesh,
and xvrite his hav on our hearts. ...raise us from the dead.... create
us anew. ...open our eyes, &c. &c. according to the language of
scripture : And these things God does do for all that are re-
newed, and therefore they are said to be born of God. ...to be born
of the spirit. ...to be spiritual.,. .to bemadepartakers of the divine na-
ture,h.z. and God is said to ^\\^ faith, repentance,2ccA every di-
vine grace... £2 e/^. xxxvi. 26 — Heb. viii. 10 — Eph, ii. 1 — 10 — I.
Cor. iv. 6 — John i. 13, and iii. 6 — Rom. viii. 6, 9 — II. Pet, i.
4 — Acts V. 31 — James \. 17,

8. From what has been said, we may learn to understand the
doctrine of divine sovereignty in the bestowment of special grace
for the regeneration and conversion of sinners. The scripture
represents God as choosing some before the foundation of the
world, to be holy andio be his children.. ..E^h. i. 4, 5 — and teaches
us thai xvhojn he did predestinate, them he also ccdh.,.,and xvhom

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 193

he calls ^theni he also justifies... and xvhom he justifies^ them he also
glorifies....Kom.\m. 30 — and plainly intimates that .suc/i «5 are
given to Christ, and ordained to eternal life^ believe^ and none oth-
er....John vi. 37, 39 — Acts xiii. 48 — Rom. xi. 7 : And the
scriptures teach us that God has mercy on rvhom he will have
mercy ^ andcompassion onwhom he will have compassion. ...^oxti.
ix. 18 — and that, for the most part, he passes by the rich, and
great, and honorable^ and chooses the ineanest and most ignoble,
that no fiesh might glory in his presence....!. Cor. i. 26 — 29 :
He hides the gospel from the wise and prudent, a?id reveals it to
babes ; and that because it pleases him so to do, and Christ rejoices
in his sovereign pleasure herein, as displaying his infinite wis-
dom...,Mat. xi. 25, 26.

And now what has been said may show us the infinite rea-
sonableness of such a procedure : For God, whose eyes run to
and fro through all the earth, seeing all things as being what
they are, plainly beholds and views the state and temper of this
apostate world ; and let men pretend what the)- will, he knows
their hearts — he knows they do not love him, nor care for him
— he sees all their hypocrisy, and their inward contrariety to
him and his law, and how nmch they are settled in their tem-
per....so far from repentance, that they will not so much as see
their sin, but stand to justify themselves, insensible of their
guilt, and insensible of their desert, hating the light : He sees
they hate to perceive their sin, and guilt, and desert, and to be
humbled, and lie down at his foot, and be absolutely beholden
to him ; and that they vrould make the utmost resistance if he
should take them in hand, and go aboutthoroughly to convince
them, by his spirit, hov/ things really are : Thus he views his
apostate, rebellious creatures, and sees how sinful. ...how dead
in sin.. ..how contrary to all good, and hov/ irreclaimable they
are, and, upon the whole, how much they deserve eternal dam-
nation. In the days of eternity, he saw just how tilings would
be, b( forehand ; and now, in time, he sees just how things actu-
ally are : In the days of eternity, therefore, he saw that there
would not be any thing in them to move him to have mercy on

194 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

any ; and now, in time, he finds it to be the case : and yet he
was pleased, then^ of his mere sovereign pleasure, to determine
not to cast off all, but to save some— so, now^ he is pleased to put
his sovereign pleasure in execution ; and he has mercy on
whom he will have mercy, and compassion on whom he will
have compassion, and many times takes the meanest and vilest,
that the sovereignty of his grace might be the more illustrious,
and the pride of all flesh might be brought low, and the Lord
alone be exalted : And surely such a conduct infinitely well be-
comes the supreme Governor of the whole world.

Indeed, if any of Adam's race were so well disposed, as, of
their own accord, merely upon reading the Bible, hearing the
gospel preached, and enjoying the common means of grace, to
believe and repent, and to return home to God through Jesus
Christ, they might be accepted, pardoned, and saved ; nor would
there be any room for, or need of sovereign grace : But God,
who knows the hearts of all, sees that all the pretences of sinners,
that way, are but mere hypocrisy, and that, at heart, they are his
enemies, and utterly opposed to a return. Or if there was any
virtue to be found among any of the fallen race of Adam, ante-
cedent to God's grace, this might move him to have mercy upon
one, rather than another : But he sees that all are entirely desti-
tute of love to him, and entirely at enmity against him, wholly
void of real goodness, and dead in sin, and that the only reason
why some are not so outwardly extravagant and vicious as others,
is, because he has, by one means and another, restrained them,
and not because they are really better. And while God thus be-
holds all alike dead in sin, and, in the temper of their hearts, by
nature, equally averse to a return to him, and views all as guilty
and hell-deserving, there is nothing....there can be nothing, to
move him to determine to show mercy to one, rather than anoth-
er, but his own good pleasure ; and therefore he has mercy on
whofh he will have mercy : he awakens, convinces, humbles,
converts v/hom he pleases, and leaves the rest to follow their own
inclinations, and take their own course, enduring^ with much
hng'Siiffcring^ tlie vessels ofxvrath.

DISTINGWSHED FROM ALL COUNTLRFEITS. 105

Let It be here noted, that many of those warm disputes about
the doctrine of divine sovereignty, which have filled die chris-
tian world, turn very much upon this psint. All are agreed,
that whosoever believes, repents, and returns to God, throup-h
Jesus Christ, shall be saved : All will, therefore, yield ihat if
mankind, in general, were so well disposed as to return toCiod,
through Jesus Christ, of their own accord, upon the calls and
invitations of the gospel, and only by the influence and help of
those advantages which are common, then all might be saved ;
nor would there be any need of, or room for, this sovereign,
distinguishing gi-ace : But if mankind have none of ihis dispo-
sition, but are every way diametrically opposite thereto — if all
the calls of die gospel, and conmion means and methods of
grace will have no clfectual influence upon them — if nothing but
an almighty, all-conquering grace can slop them in their course
of rebellion, subdue their lusts, and recover them to God ; — if
this be the case of all mankind, then it is plain that nothing but
tlie mere mercy of God can interpose and prevent an universal
ruin : And it is plain that the sovereign Governor of the whole
world is, in the nature of things, at most perfect liberty to shew
this mercy to none, or to some few, or to all, just as it seems
good in his sight : And since, from eternity, he foresaw just
how things would be, from eternity he might determine what
to do : So that the great question is. Whether mankind are
naturally so entirely averse to a true conversion ? For if they
are, the reasonableness of the divine sovereignty must be ad-
mitted in this case j and if they are not, none will any longer
plead for it : And what the natural opposition of mankind to
conversion is, may bft easily seen, if we consider what die true
nature of conversion is, and compare their temper herewith :
And what the true nature of conversion is, may be easily knoWn
by considering the tnie nature of the moral law : — In a v.ord, if
the law does only rec[uirc what the Arminians and Pelaf^ian'S
suppose, and religion be just such a thing, it is a plain case that
ruankind are not so bad, nor do they need such an irresistible
grace : But if the law requires quite another sort of holiness.

195 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

and so true religion be quite another sort of thing, even such as
I have described, which lies so diametrically opposite to the nat-
ural bent and bias of our whole souls, it is a clear case
that grace must be irresistible, and can proceed from noth-
ing but mere free mercy, nor result from anything but the sove-
reign pleasure of the most High : So that, in short, the whole
dispute is resolved into this question — ^What does the law of
God require, and wherein does a genuine conformity thereto
consist ? Bat of this more afterwards.

And from what has been said, we may easily gather a plain
and short answer to all the mighty cry about promises^ promi-
ses to the uncon-jerted^ {f^l^^y tuilldo as xvellas they can ; for it
is plain, heaven's gates stand wide open to all that believe and
repent, and return to God, through Jesus Christ.. ..yo/i7z iii. 16 :
and it is plain, the wrath of God is revealed against all who do
not do this. ..y(s/in iii. 36 : and it is plain that there is nothing but
the want of a good temper, together with the obstinate perverse-
ness of sinners, that hinders their return to God ; and that, there-
fore, all their pretences of being v/illing to do as well as they can,
are mere hypocrisy. They are so unwilling to return to God,
or take one step that way, that they can be brought back by
nothing short of an almighty power ; and are so far, therefore,
from being entitled to the promises of the gospel, that they are
actuallv, and that deservedly too, under condemnation by the
gospel, {John iii. 18) and under all the curses of the law...Ga/.
iii. 10. " Take heed, thei'efore, O sinner, thou enemy of God,
" when you pretend that you desire to repent and do as well as
" you can, that you be not found quieting yourself in a state of
*' estrangement from God, hiding your natural aversion to God
" and holiness under fair pretences : And know it, if you do,
" though you may deceive yourself by the means, yet it will ap-
*■' pear, another day, before all worlds, and it wiU be known that
'•'■ vou vvere an enemy to God, and xvoiddnot be reconciled, and
" did but flatter him with yoxir lips, and lie unto him with your
**• tongue, in all your seemingly devout pretences. You think
*' yourself good enough to have an interest in the promises, but

UISTINGUISUEU FROM ALL COUXTMRFEITS. 197

't infinite goodness judges you deserve to be numbered among

" the children of wrath and heirs of hell John iii. 18, 30. —

" Your high conceit of your own goodness is the foundation of
" all vour confidence, and both join to keep you secure in sin
" and under guilt, and insensible of your need of Christ and
*' sovereign grace.... Z,wie v. 31 — Rom. x. 3." Did sinners but
see the badness of their hearts, they would be soon convinced
that the promises are not theirs, but the thrcatenings ; and
would feel.ind know that they ha\e no claims to make, but lie
absolutely at mercy.. ..Le^ie xviii. 13.

9. And if it is nothing but the mei-c grace and sovereign good
pleasure of God, which moves him to sop sinners in their ca-
reer to hell, and by his irresistible and all-conquering giace,
and by the supernatural influences of his holy spirit, sub-
due their stubbornness, take down the power of sin in their
hearts, and recover them to himself : and if he does this
for them, when they are at enmity against him, and are his open
enemies by wicked works, and so are altogether deserving his
wrath and vengeance ; — I say, if this be the case, there is all
reason to think, that he^ who thus begins^ will carry on the work
to perfection^ He knew how bad the sinner was when he first
took him in hand..., how he hated to be converted, and how he
would resist, and that his own almighty arm must bring salva-
tion ; and yet this did not discourage his first undertaking :
And he knew how the sinner would prove after conversion....
just how barren and unfruitful. ...just how perverse and rebel-
lious, and just how apt to forget God and turn away from him,
and that his own almighty grace must always be working in him
to will and to do.. ..Phi/, ii. 13. He knew all the discoiiraging
circumstances before-hand, and his infinite goodness surmount-
ed them all — and he had mercy on the poor sinner, because he
would have mercy on him, of his mere good pleasure, from
his boundless grace, aiming at tlie glory of his own great name
....Eph. i. 6. And now, this being the case, we have all reason
to think that God will never alter his hand, or leave unfinished
the work which he has begun ; fc;- there alv, iiys w ill be the same

198 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

motive from which he undertook the work, to excite him to car-
r.'iton — even the infinite goodness of his nature ; and he will be
always under the same advantages to answer the end he at first
proposed, namely, the advancement of the glory of his grace :
And he will never meet with any unforeseen difficulties or dis-
couragements in his way. We may, therefore, be pretty cer-
tain, if really God begins this work, under such views and such
circumstances, that it is with design to carry it on ; — as Samuel
reasons in a parallel case : — I. Sam. xii. 0,2,.. .For the Lord will
not forsake his people for his great name's sake ; because it hath
pleasedthe Lord to make you his people: So that if the doctrine
of the saints^ perse'9era7ice were not expressly taught in scrip-
ture, yet, on this ground, we might argue very strongly for it :
But that this is a doctrine plainly revealed iii the gospel, we may
learn from Mat. xui. 23 — fohn iv. 14, and x. 4, 5, 27, 28 — I.
yohji iii. 6, 9 — lieb. viii. 10, &c. &c. When St. Paul kept
under his body, and brought it into subjection, lest he should
be a cast-axvay^ (I. Cor. ix. 27.) he did no otherwise than he
was wont' to do in temporal concerns, in cases wherein he was,
hQioYt\\2X\d^certain of the event I So he sent word to the chief
Captain., of the fervs lying in wait to kill him, lest he should be
murdered hij them ; although it v/as revealed to him from God,

but the very night before, that he should live to see Rome

Acts xxiii. 12 — 21 : So he would not allow the sailors to leave
the ship in the midst of the storm, lest they should sovie of them
be drowned for want of their help ; although, but a little before,
it was revealed to him from God that not one of them should be
drowned. ,..^Ct5xxvii. 23—31. And, indeed, it was his duty
to do as he did, as much as if lie had been at the greatest un-
certainties about the event : So, although Paul knev/ that never
any thing should separate him from the love of God., (Rom. viii.
38.) — yet he used all possible endeavors to mortify his corrup-
tions, lest he should be a cast-axvay : And, indeed, it was his
duty to do so, as much as if he had been at the greatest uncer-
tainties about the event : And what v/as his daty, was also the
duty of all good men ; and therefore St. Paul, in his epistles^ i*

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 199

frequently exhorting all to do as he did ; and that in a perfect
consistency with the doctrine of the saints' perseverance^ which
he also teaches : And as Paul's being certain of the event did
not tend to make him careless in the use of proper means to
save his natural life, but rather tended to encourage and ani-
mate him, as knowing that he should finally succeed — so his be-
ing certain of the event did not tend to make him careless, but
to animate him, with respect to his spiritual and eternal life :
And as it was with him, so it is with all good xnQV\....Rom. vi. 2 :
For this is always the case, that certainty of success animates
men, if the thing they are about be what they love, and what
their hearts are engaged in ; but to die to themselves, the world
and sin, and love God, and live to him, and giow up into per-
fect holiness, is what all believers love, and have their hearts en-
gaged after j an absolute certainty, therefore, of perseverance
has, in the nature of things, the greatest tendency to animate
them to the most sprightly activity. There are none but grace-
less hypocrites that take encouragement from the doctrines of
free grace to carelessness and sm...,Rom. vi. 1, 2.

10. If this be the nature of a saving conversion — if this be
the nature of true holiness — if this be true religion, so contrary
to flesh and blood, and all the habitual propensities of nature,
then, so long as there is the least corrt/ption left in the hearty there
willy of necessity y be a continual conflict : Grace will continually
seek the ruin of sin, through its contrariety to it, and hatred of
it ; and sin will strive to maintain its ground — yea, and to re-
gain its former dominion. The gracious nature delights in the
law of God, and aspires after sinless perfection — the sinful na-
ture hates the law of God, and strives to lead the man captive
into sin : The gracious nature is a disposition to love God su-
premely, live to him ultimately, and delight in him superlative-
ly ; and this sinful nature is a disposition to love self supreme-
ly, live to self ultimately, and delight in that which is not God
wholly : and because these two are contranj the one to the eth'
er, therefore the flesh -will lust against the spirit^ and the spirit

ngaijist tlie flesh... .Gol, v. 17. The gracious nature joins in on

C c

200 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

God's side against all sin ; and while God works in the man to
xvill and to do ^ he works out his ozun salvation xvith fear and trern-
bUng.,..\\i\h caution and circumspection....with watchfulness
and holy concern — laboring to die to himself, the world and sin,
and be wholly the Lord's.-. PA//, ii. 12, 13. While the divine
spirit is breathing upon his heart, and realising to him the be-
ing and perfections of God. ...the existence and importance of
divine and eternal things, and is spreading divine light over his
soul, and is banishing selfish and worldly views, and is drawing
his soul to holy and divine contemplations, he feels the divine
influence.. ..he blesses the Lord.. ..he summons all within him
to engagedness....he pants after God: — " O that I might know
*' him — that I might see him in his infinite glorj^ ! (Psalm Ixiii.
*' 1, 2.y..;0 God^ thou art my God^ early will I seek thee — my
*' soul thirsteth for thee — my flesh longethfor thee, in a dry and
*' thirsty land, where no water is.,. .To see thy porver and glory,

" so as J have seen thee in the sanctuary, (Verse 8.) My

*•'• soul followeth hard after thee. (Psalm Ixxiii. 25^)...,W/iom
" have I in heaven but thee P And there is none upon earth I de-
" sire besides thee. O that I could, with my whole heart, love
*' thee forever, live to thee forever, live upon thee forever, and
" never, never, depart from thee ! O that I could think for thee,
" and speak for thee, and act for thee — at home and abroad,
** by day and by night, always live to thee^ and upon thee ! —
" Here, Lord, I give myself to thee, to be forever thine.. ..to love
*'' thee and to fear thee, and to walk in all thy ways, and to keep
** all thy commands j and O that my heart might never depart
*' from thee ! But alas, alas, to will is present with me.... to have
*' a disposition to all this, and long for all this, and seek and
*' strive for all this, is easy and nsLtural,, for J delight in the law
*^ of God after the Inward man ; but hoxv to perform I find not —
" how to get my whole heart so to fall in, as that there shall not
*' be the least contrary temper, this is quite beyond me, for I
" am still carnal, sold under sin....have another law in my mem-
*^ bers....h.a.ve still the remains (ofthefesh) of my native con-
** trariety to God, and disposition to disrelish divine things j

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 201

" and so am apt to forget God. ...to warp off from him, and to
*' have selfish and worldly views and designs secretly creep In-
*' to my mind, and steal away my heart from God — and so am
" daily led into captivity, O that sin was entirely dead — that a
" disposition to disrelish God. ...to forget him... .to go away
" from him..., to live without him, and to seek content in that
*' which is not God, was entirely slain ! 0, ivretched man that
" I am, xvho shall deliver me ?"....Rom^ vii» 14 — 24.

If grace and conuption wore not so contrary the one to the
other.. ..so diametrically opposite, there might possibly be an
accommodation between them, and both quietly dwell together
in the same heart ; but now they are set for each other's ruin,
and seek each other's destruction — and, like fire and water, will
never rest till one or the other be entirely destroyed. ...Ga/. v. 17.

If grace could be wholly killed, or corruption wholly slain,
then the conflict of believers might wholly cease in this life ;
but grace is immoital, like a livi7ig spring that shall never dry^
{John iv. 14.) — like a root that will ever grow, (^Mat. xiii. 20 —
23.) and Christ is always />ur^m_^ believers, that they may /jwz^
forth juore fruity (y^'''^ xv. 2.) : So that he that is born of God
cannot sin as others do^ (I. yohn'ui. 9.) — cannot sin, but against
the grain of his heart, the gracious nature continually resisting,
(Gal, V. 17.) ; so that it is certain, from the nature of things,
that David and Solomon neither of them felt, in their worst
frames, as graceless men do. Grace resisted within, (Gakv,
17.) hating their proceedings ; nor did it ceass inwardly to
struggle and torment them, till the one cries out, 3Itj bones wax
old through my roaring all the day /on§-.... Psalm lii. 3 : Vox his
sin was ever Infore his eyes, ...Psalm, xxxi, 3 : And the other.
Vanity of vanitiesy all is vanity andvexation of spirit. ..Kccle. i. 2.

Many stony-ground hearers^ who were once filled withlight
and joy, do, when their religion is all worn out, and they lie
dead, and blind, and stupid, whole months and years together,
cry, the best are dead sometiynes ; and have recourse to David
and Solomon : and many a hypocrite,, whose religion is only
by fits and pangs, sometimes floated as the streets in summer,

202 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

by a sudden shower, and then, in a few days, as dry as ever, de-
ceive themselves here ; and many take natural conscience to
be a principle of grace, and the war between that and their cor-
ruptions to be a gracious conflict : But as all counterfeit reli-
gions are specifically different from the true, as has been alrea-
dy shown, so, by consequence, their conflict is different from
that which believers have, in its very nature. They fight, from
different principles, and for different ends, and about different
things, and in a different manner, just as their religions differ
from one another.

11. If this be the nature of conversion and holiness, and the
manner wherein they are wrought — and if true religion be thus
specifically different from kll counterfeits, then may believers be
infallibly certain that they have true grace. A man cannot but
perceive his own thoughts, and know what views he has, and
be intuitively acquainted with his own designs and aims ; so
every man knows it is with him, as to the things of this world.
Much less is it possible that there should be so ^-eat a change
in a man's heart and life, thoughts, affections, and actions, as
there is made by conversion, and yet he know nothing about it.
For a man to be awakened, out of a state of security in sin, to
see what a sinful, guilty, helpless, lost, undone state he is in,
and yet not to perceive any thing of it, evidently implies a con-
tradiction, and so is, in the nature of things, impossible : For a
man to be brought to see God in his infinite glory, so as to be
disposed to love him supremely, live to him ultimately, and de-
light in him superlatively, and yet not to perceive it, i. e. not to
be conscious of his views and affections, also implies a contra-
diction, and so is impossible : For a man to lose his selfish and
worldly views more and more, from year to year, and die to
himself, the world and sin — -and for a man to live a life of com-
munion with God, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord,
and yet not at all to perceive it, is utterly impossible ; for the
mind of man is naturally conscious to its own actings : So,
from the nature of things, it is evident that grace is percepti-
ble ; yea, in its own nature, it must be as perceptible as corrup-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 203

tion....love to God as love to the world.... sorrow for sin as sor-
row for affliction....aiming at God's glory as aimingat our own
honor and interest : But if true grace be, in its own nature,
perceptible, and if it be also specifically different from all coun-
terfeits, it is self-evident that a good man may know that he has
true grace. 1 cannot see why, extraordinary cases excepted, a
good man, who lives a life of communion with and devotedness
to God, and in the daily exercise of every grace, may not come
to know that he has grace. Surely he must be conscious to
the actings of his own mind ; for this is natural : And surely
he may see the difference between his religion and all counter-
feits, when the difference is so great and plain ; so that, if the
scriptures did not expressly teach us that assurance is attainable,
it is vet evidently demonstrable from the nature of things.

But the scriptures do plainly teach this doctrine, in II. Pet. u
10 — I. Jolvi V. 13 — I. John ii. 3, and iii. 14, &c. &c. — Besides,
all those promises, that are made for the comfort and support
of God's people in this world, suppose that they may know that
they are the people of God : for, unless a man knows that he is
a child of God, he cannot rationally take comfort in those prom-
ises which ai-e peculiar to such. It is true, brazen hypocrites
will do so, but they act very presumptuously. It is folly and
madness for me to flatter myself that God has promised to do
so and so for me, unless I know that I am one to whom the prom-
ises belong : For instance, it is folly and madness forme to be-
lieve that God will make all tilings xuork together for my good^
according to that promise in Rom. viii. 28, unless I know that /
love God; for this promise plainly respects such, and no other :
But there are verj'^ many precious promises made to believers
in the word of God, which are evidently designed for their com-
fort and support. It is certain, therefore, that God thinks that
believers may know they are such — without which knowledge,
all these promises cannot attain their end.

Besides, to suppose that to be a servant of God, and a ser-
vant of the devil.. ..to be going the way to heaven, and die way
to hell... .to be travelling in the narrow way, and to be travelling

204- TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

in the broad way, are so near alike, as that even good men them-
selves cannot possibly know them asunder, and which way they
are going, is, on ever)' account, intolerably absurd ; nor could
the christian world have possibly drunk in such a notion
but that true grace is so very rare a thing.

I may here, by the way,just observe these three things : — 1.
That the ivayfor a man to know that he has grace^ is not to try
himself by fallible signs ^but intuitively to look ijito himself and see
grace. A thousand signs of grace will not prove that a man
has grace. There is no sign of grace to be depended upon, but
grace itself ; for every thing but grace a hypocrite may have :
And what grace, holiness, or true religion is, I have already en-
deavored to show. — 2. That the way for a man to know that he
has gracCf is not to judge himself by the degree and measure of his
religious frames and affections^ or the height of his attainments ;
hut by the special nature of them: for as there is not any one
grace but a hypocrite may have its counterfeit, so hypocrites
may rise as high in ^/ze/r religion as any true believer does in his.
Was Elijah, the prophet, jealous for the name and worship of
the true God, and against false religion?. ..So was Jehu : and he
appeared as full of zeal, and more courageous, and did gi-eater
exploits. There was scarcely a more zealous saint than Elijah,
in Old-Testament times ; but yet Jehu, that hypocrite, made a
much greater show and noise — seemed to be fuller of zeal and
courage, and actually did greater exploits, setting aside the mir-
acles which God wrought by Elijah, (I. Kings xviii. and xix.
chap. — II. Kings ix. and x. chap.) And we do not read of one
saint in all the Bible that fasted in a constant way, twice every
week, as the Pharisee did, {Luke xviii.) And there is not one
saint in all the Bible that ever did^ externally and visibly, any
higher acts of self-denial, than to give all his goods to feed the
poor^ and his body to be burnt ; and yet St. Paul intimates that a
man may do this, and still have no grace in his heart.. ..I. Cor.
xiii. 3 : It is no certain evidence, therefore, that a man is a good
man, because he has a ^rmf </ra/ of religion — more than the
most, and full as much as the best — yea, more than any in all

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 205

the country.. ..yea, or in all the whole world ; for, in Jehu's time,
there was not perhaps, for a while, one like him upon the face
of the earth : A man, therefore, cannot know that he is a good
man, by the degree of his religion, but only from the special na-
Uire of rt : And wherein true religion specifcolly differs front
all counterfeits, I have already shown. — 3. Since grace is, in its
own nature, perceptible, and spedjicallij different from all coim-
terfeits, there is no need of the immediate ivitnesft oftlie spirit, in
order to a full assiirajice. If the spirit of God does but give us
a good degree of grace, and enlighten our minds to understand
the scriptures, and so to know the nature of true grace, we may
dien perceive that we have giace ; and the more gi-ace we have,
the more perceptible will it be, and its difference from all coun-
terfeits will be the more plain : And if a believer may know and
be certain that he has grace, without the immediate witness of
the spirit, then such a witness is altogether needless, and would
be of no advantage : but God never grants his spirit to believ-
ers, to do things needless and to no advantage ; and therefore
there is no such thing as the immediate witness of the spirit in
this affair : And besides, it is plain the scriptures every rvhere
direct us to look into ourselves, to see whether we love God and
keep his commands — to see whether Christ, in his holv nature,
be formed in us — to see whether the spirit, as an enlightener
and sanctificr, dwells in us, and influences and governs us ; but
never once directs us to look for die imviediote witness of the
spirit, in order to know whether we have grace.

Obj. But the text says expressly^ The spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.. ../Pom.
viii. 16.

Ans. But the text does not in the least intimate that the spir-
it witnesses immediately. The spirit Oears tcitness , but how?
The spirit makes it evident that we are the children of God ;
but in what way ? By immediate revelation ? No ; the scripture
no where tells us to look for such revelations, or lays down any
marks whereby we may know which come from God,. and
which from the devil. How then docs the spii it make it cvi*

206 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

de7ittha.t we are the children of God, and by what witness does
he make it appear ?...Not by telling us that we are children —
the devil may t&ll hypocrites so ; but by makiyig us children
in the vei-y temper of our hearts, ...by giving to us much of a child'
like frame of spirit towards God — a thing the devil cannot do,
and so a thing by which we may certainly know. This holy,
divine, child-like frame and temper of heart, whereby we bear
the very image of our heavenly father, is God's mark, which,
more or less conspicuously, he sets upon all the lambs of his
flock. This IS the seal of the spirit, (Kph. 1. 13.)': For this is
the earnest of our inheritance, (verse 14.) : It is eternal life be-
gun in the soul, (^fohn xvii. 3.) This is called the xvitness of the
ipirit, because it is what the spirit works in our hearts, and that
by which he makes it evident that we are the children of God —
the design oi witnesses being to make things evident : And, in-
deed, this is the only distinguishing mark that God puts upon
his children, and the only thing wherein they differ from all hyp-
ocrites— and is the only evidence the scripture directs them to
look for and expect, and without which all other evidences are
just good for nothing.... iTia?. vii. 24 — 27 — John xv. 2 — I.
yohnu, 3, 4, and iii. 6 — 10.

And this being the case, we may see how much out of the
wa)' those are, who think and say that it is a sin for them to doubt
the goodness of their state, because of their badness, and because
they can see no grace in their hearts : " For," say they, " that
" would be to call God's truth and faithfulness into question....
*' who has, by his spirit, immediately assured me of his love and
*' my salvation — -just as if the immutability of his purpose de-
" pended upon my good frames : No ; I must do as Abraham
*' did, xvho, against hope, believed ill hope ; so, though I see no
" grace in my heai't, or signs of any, yet I must believe my state
*' is good, and that I sliall be saved. It is not my duty to look
*' so much into my own heart — I shall never be the better for
** that ; but I must look to Christ, and believe, and never doubt :
*' for the spirit of God did, at such a time, assure me of Christ's
" love to me.. .and I knew I was not deceived.,.and it would now

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 207

*' be a great sin in me to doubt — it would be giving the lie to
•' Christ and to the holy spirit,"

How sad a delusion are such poor sinners under, who dare
not believe the holy scriptures, for fear they shall sin, which ev-
ery where assure us, that unless we are holy in heart and life,
our faith is vain, and we in a state of condemnation ; and teach
us that we ought to be no /.nore confident of our good state, than
in proportion as our sanctification is evident ! How sad it is that
they should atU'ibute ajl their doubts to carnal reason or the dc
vliy which, imleed, are but the secret dictates of their own con-
sciences, and are so agreeable to the word of God ! What a
dreadful spirit is this that thus leads them off from the word of
God, -.ind so blinds their minds that they cannot understand
it, nor dare believe it ! Surely it can be no other than Satan
transfonntd into anangel of light, *

* Ob J. But the scripture foihids doubting. Mat. xlv. 31. ...O tiiOU of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?

Ans. In that text, Christ dees not bUme Peter for doubtiBg his state,
but for doubting he should be drowned.

Obj. But Christ upbraided them -with their unbelief.... Mzrk xvi. 14.

Aks. He did not blame them for not believing they were in a good state,
but for not believing that he was risen from the dead.

Obj. But Abraham is commeiuled, in that against hope he believed in
hope....i?o7«, iv. 18.

Ans. But the thing to be believed, and hoped for, was, that he should
have a son, which he had good grounds to expect : So this is nothing to
the ]nirpose.

Obj. But St. Paul says, we walk by faith, and not by sight. ...II. Cor. v. 7.

Ans. That is, in all their conduct, they were governed by a realizing be-
lief of iinsccn things, and not by things seen and temporal. ...II. Cor. iv. 18.
It was not Paul's way to lie dead whole months and years together, nor
was he ever driven to such a strait, as to be forced to believe himself to be
in a good state, without sufficient evidence.

Obj. But, what is not of faith, is s\n....Rom. xiv. 23. But douhts arise
from tinbelief.

Ans. 1. If any man docs not believe that it is lawful for him todo some
particular act, and yet ventures to do it, he sins — he acts against his own
conscience : Tliis is tlie plain sense of the text, and so this text is nothing
to the purpose.

2. An hypocrite's doubts are wont to arise from unbelief, i. e. from his
not stcdfastly briieving the immediate revelations which he had from the
il<i\\\, that his sins are pardoned. 1"he devil tries to keep him quiet, byt
sometimes his conscience is a little awakened, and then he fears and doubts
he is deluded ; and now the devil tries to make him lieJieve that it is a sin
to doubt. The devil would fain make him believe all is well, i. e. believe
at a venture, without a thorough search and trial, and without sufficient
fvidcnce. 3. It is

D D

208 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Alas! alas! Howdoes the God of this world blind the mmds
of them that believe not ! Some firmly believe that there is no
such thing as a good man's knowing that he has grace ; and so
they contentedly live along, not knowing what world they are
hastening unto....to heaven or to heil ; but they hope their state
is good, and hope their hop^'is well gi-ounded, but knoxv not but
that their hope is that of the hypocrite : Yea, the)' are not wil-
ling to believe there is any such thing as knorving^iox that would
make them suspect that they are wrong, and that true religion
is something they never had ; v/hich, if it be the case, yet they
are not willing to know it. They hide themselves in the dark !
They say. There is no light ! And will not believe that a good
man may know that he has passed from death to life : While
others^ from the very same principle, viz. because they hate the
l/ghty firmly believe that it is a sin to doubt; and so will never,
dare never, call their state into question, and thoroughly look
through the matter : both are equally rotten at heart, and so
equally hate the light, although they take different methods to
keep from it ; and the devil does his utmost to keep both fast
bound where they are.

3. It is a sin for a true believer to live so as not to have his evidences
clear ; but it is no sin for him to be so honest and impartial, as to doubt,
when, in fact, his evidences are not clear : It is a sin to darken his eviden-
ces ; but it is no sin to see that they are darkened : It is a sin for a man,
by rioting and drunkenness, to make himself sick ; but it is no sin to feel
that he is sick ; or, if there be grounds for it, to doubt he shall die. We
may bring calamities upon ourselves by our sins, both outward and inward,
and our calamities may arise from our sins ; and yet our calamities have
not the nature of sins, but are rather of tlie nature oipitnishtnents. It is sin,
in believers, which lays the foundation for doubts : it is sin which is the
occasion of their doubts ; but their doubts are not sins any the more for
this. Some seein to suppose that every thing vrhich is occasioned hj sin,
is sin ; but there is no truth in their supposition. It is not a sin for un-
converted people to think themselves to be unconverted ; and yet that
thought of themselves is occasioned by sin — for their being uncon^erted is
their sin.

Obj. But belie'oers are exhorted to hold fast their confidence. ...^ci. iii. 6.
And it is said, verse 14 — For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold
the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.

Ans. That is, their confidence that yesus is the Christ, together with a
true faith in him, as is manifest from the whole context. Nor is any thing
more absurd than to say, that men shall be made partakers of Christ, if they
hold fast their confidence of their good state, which is what many a hypo-
crite does, a,»d that to the verv last....Jira(. yii. 22— Ltike xixi. 25, 26, 27-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERIEITS. 209

Happy the true believer, who is made impartial by divine
grace ! It is a recovery to God and hoUness that he is after :
a confidence that his sins are pardoned, without thh^ would be
bvit a poor thing. If he obtains this, he gets what he wants ;
and it not, he feels himself undone : nor can he flatter himself
that he has obtained it, when he has not : And this he makes
his only evidence of God's eternal love, and of his title tf) eter-
nal glon^ ; and believes his state to be good, no farther than this
goes....i)/</t. vii. 21 — 27.

Thus I have gone through \ht first use^ the use of mstruc-
tion : and thus we see how a right understanding of the Icau
will set many of the important doctrines of religion in a clear
and easy — in a scriptural and rational light. By the laxv we may
learn the primitive state of man, and how low we are fallen, and
to ^vhat we must be recovered — and so, by consequence, how
averse we are to a recovery.. ..what grace we need to recover
us- — and so, by consequence, that we must be saved by sovereign
grace, or not at all ; whence the reasonableness of the saints' per-
severance appears ; and, from the whole, the nature of the chris-
tian conflict and the attainableness of assurance are discover-
ed.— And I will conclude this use with two remarks :

Remark 1. If the law requires what, I think, I have proved it
does, and a conformity to it consists in what I have before descri-
bed, then all the other particulars do necessarily and most in-
evitably follow : Such was the image of God in which Adam
was created, and such is our natural depravity, and such are the
best duties of the unregenerate, and such is the rrature of conver-
sion,-and our aversion to it, &c, ; so that, if my first principles are
true, then the whole scheme is, beyond dispute, true also. — And
what are my first principles ?... .Why, that to love God with all
our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselves, is originally the ve-
ry essence of religion ; and that the grounds upon which God
requires us so to do, are to be the motives of our obedience.
He requires us to love htm supremely, Sic. because he is su-
premely glorious and amiable, and because our additional obli-
gations to him arc what they arc : He requires us to love oar

ilO TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AN»

neighbors as ourselves, because they are what they are, and
stand in such relations to us. With a perfect moral rectitude
of temper, influenced and governed by truth — by the reason and
fitness of things, he would have us love and glorify him as God,
i. e. as being what he is ; and love and treat our neighbors as
being what they are ; And is not this evidently the meaning of
the divine law ?

Remark 2. If the law, as a rule of life, be so abated and al-
tered, as that now it only requires us, merely from a principle
of self-love and for self-ends, sincerely to endeavor to love God
and keep his commands, and aim at his glory — and if the law,
as a covenant, be disannulled, and such an obedience be substi-
tuted in the room of perfection, as a condition of eternal life, or
as a condition of our interest in Christ, then the contrary' to all
that I have laid do^vn is most true and certain : For let the pri-
jnitive state of man be what it would, it is plain we are not en-
tirely destitute of a conformity to this new law^ much less dia-
metrically opposite to it in the natural temper of our minds. ...nor
are our best duties, while unregenerate, sin ; it Is plain, con-
version is another and a much easier thing, and that we are not
so entirely averse to it, and do not need irresistible grace, nor
lie at God's sovereign mercy, &c. All these things, and many
more such-like, are plain, if the^oo^ old law is thus altered and
abated, and thus disannulled — if the new law requires no more,
and this be the condition of eternal life, or of an interest in
Christ : So that, if any are disposed to disbelieve what have
been laid down as consequences, and to build upon another fa-
bric— if they will be consistent with themselves, they can lay
no other foundation than this, viz. To destroy the laxv ; which
I have before proved to be as impossible as to destroy the na-
ture of God ; because the moral law necessarily results from
the divine perfections, and our obligations to conform to it are
infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, as the nature and perfections
of God himself.

And, therefore, 1 think, we may conclude, with the greatest
certainty, that this foundation, viz. that the law is thus abated

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 211

and altered, is but sand; and that the fabric built upon it will not
stand. If the law had required us to love ourselves supreme-
ly, and live to ourselves ultimately, and to have endeavored to
love God and our neighbors only to answer our own ends —
then this sort of religion would have been riglit — Did I say
right ? No ; it would not be right, being unalterably contrary
to the ver}^ reason and nature of things ; nor could such a law
have been possibly made by a God, who loves righteousness, and
hates iniquity : But if this was right — if this was religion, it is
plain mankind have the root of the matter in them ; for they are
all naturall)- inclined to love themselves supremely, and live to
themselves ultimately ; and so would not need to he born aga'm^
to have a new Jiatiire — the old nature would be sufficient ; they
would only need to be convinced that it is for their interest to
endeavor to love God and do their duty, and merely self-love
would make them religious, in order to answer their own ends :
But if the law never has been thus abated and altered, then this
religion is really no religion at all — nothing but mere hypocri-
sy, and of a nature diametrically opposite to true holiness. On-
ly let it be clearly determined what the nature of the moral law
is, and there will be a final end put to a hundred controversies.
Here is a man, he reforms his life a little, and joins with the
church — he prays in his family, and sometimes in his closet —
and, for the most part, it may be, he is honest in his dealings,
and civil and solxr in his beha^■ior ; and this is his conversion
....this is his religion : And now he pleads that conversion is a
gradual thing, because his was such — and that a man cannot
know when he was convci'tcd, because that is the case with him
— that there is no need of irresistible grace, because he knows
that it is a pretty easy thing to convert as he has done — and he
hates the doctrine of divine sovereignty, because he never felt
any need of a sovereign grace to save him — and he holds fall-
ing from grace, because his religion is as easily lost as gotten :
But does he know that he has any grace, after all ? No, no, that
is a thing (says he) none can kn-yw : He believes the holy spir-
it assists him ; but he is not sensible ol his influences, or of any

212 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

help from him, any more than if he had none : He believes he
loves God, and is a true saint at heart y but he does notfeelany
more love to God, or grace in his heart, than if there was none
there— and the reason is, because there is none : But being se-
cure in sin, and it being for his vvordly interest to make a pro-
fession of religion, he now sets up for a good man : For xuith-
Gilt the law sin is dcad^ and so he is alive -without the law..,.,
Rom. \ ii. 8, 9. And now those doctrines and that preaching
which are calculated to detect his hypocrisy, and awaken him out
of his security, he bates and cries out against: And if any seem
to experience any thing further in religion than he has, for that
verv reason he condemns it all for delusion : But he pretends
mightily to plead up for morality and good works, though, ia
truth, he is an enemy to all real holiness. This is the course
of many ; but some are more sincere, and strict, and conscien-
tious in their way*

But let men be ever so sincere, strict, and conscientious in
their religion, if all results merely from self-love, the slavish
fears of hell, and mercenary hopes of heaven, there is not, in all
their religion, the least real, genuine conformity to the moral
law ; — it is all but an hypocritical, feigned show of love and obe-
dience ; — it is not the thing which the law requires, but some-
thing of a quite different nature ; unless we lay aside God's old
and everlasting law, and invent a new, abated, altered law, which
shall declare that to be right, which, in the nature of things, is
unalterably wrong ; and by such a law, such a religion will pass
for genuine : But it is sad, when we are driven to invent a new
kni\ to vindicate our religion and our hopes of heaven, since, at
the day of judgment, we shall find the old law to be in full force.

I am sensible \hAtold objectionw'iWht always rising — "But
" it is not just that God should require of us more than we can
" do, and then threaten to damn us for not doing of it :" Just
as if God may not require us to love him with all our hearts,
merely because we are not suited with him; and just as if we
were not to blame for being of such a bad temper and disposi-
tion, merely because v»^e are thoroughly settled in it, and have

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALT. COUNTEP>.Fr.l TS. £13

no heart to be otherwise ; just as if the worse any one is, the
less he is to blame — than which nothing can be more absurd — -
Truly, I cannot but think, that, by this, we are so far from being
tx':uscd, that, even merely for this, we deserve eternal damna-
tion : For what can be much worse than be so thoroughly set-
tled and fixed in such a bad temper of miiid ? — But, notwith-
standing all that I have offered to clear this point heretofore, I
will add, that if it is not just for God to require any more of us
than we can do, i. e. any more than we have, not only a natural,
but a 7uoraI power to perform* — then these tilings will necessa-
rily follow :

[* (C/" It has been questioned by some whether the Author has expressed
himself on this part of his subject with his usual perspicuity and correct-
ness. If, by requiring " more than we have natural or n\oral power to per-
form," he meant only that more was required, or was necessary, to procure
the divine favor, than wc have natural strcnj^th or moral dispcsitious to
jierform, and tlut God might justly suspend his favor until this v.--s in
some way accomplished, his reasoning may perhaps be correct : But if he
meant, as his words seem to import, that God might justly require of us,
as a condition of his favor, what v>e have neither natural nor moral j:ow-
er to perform, and, by requiring this, lay us under an obligation to ptiform
a natural impossibility, then his reasoning is evidently unsound and incon-
clusive : For must not God's law be founded in the reason and nature of
things, and his demands, in every instance, be jjroportioned, not indeed to
tiie moral, but to the natural power and cr.pacity of his creatures ? The
Author is himself a strenuous advocate for riiis ijrinciple, tiuoughout tlie
greater part of this work. In page 95th, he remarks that " all the pcrf'ec-
" tion wliich God requires of any of his creatures, angels or men, is a
" measure of knowledge and love bearing an exact proportion to their nat-
" ural powers ;'' — But why in exact propurtlon to their nntvral pcn-:eis, if, in
the nature of the case, it was not impossible that their obligations should
ever transcend these powers ?

The Author appears to have been led into this mistake by supposing that
whatever was rii-cessary to our salvation, God might justly pn.iiose to us,
and require of us, as a condition of our salvation : But is not this wholly
to overlook the circumstances of the case ? Could an of/cr of salvation, xip-
on any conditions, have been made to fallen man, without the intervention
of a Savior ? The language which God must necessarily have held to hiifj,
in these circumstances, was that of a righteous Judge, condemning him to
everlasting death. A law which could give life, or even propose life, was
not adiiiissilile I and it was not admissible for this plain reason, that no
terms could be named which would be proper for God to accept, and which,
at tlie same time, the sinner was naturally able to perform. It is believed,
therefore, that wc should need botli a R<deem.er and Sanctif.er, although
it w»-v^ not just for God to require of us more than we h.ave natural power
to i\ nl — We should nt'ed a Redeemer to mal;e an atonement for us ;— a
vork which wc could never accomplish, nor be rctjuired to accomplish our-
selves : We should need a Sanctifier, to renew our hearts, and restore us
to the image of God — not indeed because we have no natural power to per-
.forin tiiis work ; for ^^ e have this pojvei', and God requires us to exercise

214 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

1 . That there was not the least need of Christ's clifingfor us at
our Redeemer : For, did wc need him to make any atonement
or satisfacion for our sins ?... Surely no : for God could not just-
ly require of us more satisfaction for oiu* sins than we were able
to make ; for that would be to require more than we can do.
— Did we need him to purchase the divine favor and eternal
life for us ?... Surely no : for God could not justly require any
more of us, as a condition of his tavor and eternal life, than wc
ourselves were able to do. — Did we need him to purchase an
abatement of the law ?...SLu-ely no : for God could not, in his
law, justly require of us more than we could do ; and we did
not need to have the law brought down lower than this : Well,
therefore, might St. Paul tell the Galatians that if righteousness
came by the law, then Christ is dead in vain... .Ga\. ii. 21 : For
if our doing as well as we can, in the sense before explained, is
all that righteousness that God can justly require, tliis alone most
certainly would be every way sufficient for our salvation : nor
did we need a Savior any more than the angels in heaven ; for
we have just as much power to do as as xvell as we can, as they
have to do as xvell as they can : To say the contrar)', is a contra-
diction in express terms.

2. Nor was there the least need that the holy spirit should be
se7it into the xvorld, to grant any inzvard assistance, to enable us
to do our duty : For we had a full and perfect power to do all
our duty, without any such assistance : for God could not just-
ly require of us any more than we could do ; and every one is
able to do what he can, w^ithout any assistance.

So that, if this principle be true that God cannot justly reqidre
of us any more than we can do, it is plain we neither needed a
Redeemer nor a Sanctiper : so that all the infinite pains which
God has taken for our redemption and salvation, has been un-
necessary and fruitless. To do as v*'ell as we could, was all

it — but because we are totally depraved, and shall never employ our natu-
ral faculties in returning unto God, until moved to it by the operations of
his holy spirit.

It will be seen that the exceptions taken against the Author's reasoning
in this place, apply so far only as the question o{ natural \^ower is concerned.]

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 215

that would have been needful ; and this is still as much requi-
red as ever : So that we are just whei-e we should have been, if
nothing had ever been done ior us : So that this notion entire-
ly undermines and subverts the v»hole christian religion^ in sup-
posing that all the extraordinary and wonderful provision there-
in made for the salvation of sinners was needless ; for if all was
needless, then the whole is perfectly incredible — for it is incred-
ible to suppose that God would do so muchy and such great things,
when there was no need of it : so that this notion leads direct-
ly to infidelity : Yea, if this principle be true, we may be cer-
tain that the gospel is full of deceit ; for the gospel every where
supposes sinners to have been in a helpless, imdone state, and
that they might justly have been left so, and perished forever :
and it every where represents it as owing entirely to the free
grace and infinitely great goodness of God, tiiat he sent his Son
into the world to be a Savior, and the holy spirit to be a Sanc-
tifier i all whichy upon this principle, is notoriously false : for
we were not in a helpless, widone condition ; being able, of our-
selves, to do all that God could justly require of us, in order
to eternal life. Nor did we need to be beholden to God for
his grace and goodness, his Son or his spirit ; being able, of
ourselves, to do all that which he could justly require at our
hands : Yea, upon this principle, the gospel oflcrs the highest
a/fiont to human nature, in that it supposes us to be such vile,
helpless, undone, guilty wretches, when, indeed, and in truth,
we are not : And, therefore, so long as men really believe this
notion, they cannot possibly but hate the doctrines of the gos-
pel, and oppose them : and so, in fact, it has always been.

To conclude, therefore, since it is so evident from the /art',
and so evident from the gospel, that we are sinful, guilt}', help-
less, undone creatures, had not we better give in to it, and come
down, and lie in the dust, before the Lord, who knows what
we are, whether we will own it or no ? Had we not better own
his law to be holy, just, and good, and acknowledge that we lie
at his sovereign mercy, and be willing to be beholden to free
^race, through Jesus Christ, for our salvation ; since we must

K K

216 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

do SO, or never be saved ? Wliat will it profit us to fly in his
face, and say, It is not just for him to require more than we can
do, ajidthen damn us for not doing P when all that he requires,
is only that we love Cod with all our hearts^ and our neighbor
as cursehes, which, in the nature of things, is infinitely reason-
able— and when all ourimpotency arises only from our sinful-
ness, and so, instead of extenuating our fault, only discovers
how sinful we are. Surely, since all the world stand guilty be-
fore God, really guilty, and are so accounted by him, we all
had best to stop our mouths, and own the sentence just, by which
we stand condemned, while it is a time of mercy : for who can
tell but God may pity us ?

There is but one way now left to evade the force of what has
been said. To a strict demonstration, the law is not, and can-
not be abated : there is now no way, therefore, but to deny that
there ever xvas such a law. But then, if God be what I suppose
him to be, to a demonstration the law must be such to® : there is
no way, therefore, but to deny that there is aiiy such God ! Well,
but if God be not what I suppose, rvhat is he ? ^Vhy, we may
see the whole scheme, by the following objection^'m a few words.

Obj. Godjsabeingofinjinite understanding and almighty
power, perfectly disposed to seek the good and happiness of his
creatures as his last end. He loves virtue, and rewards ity
vierely because it tends to make them happy : He hates vice, and
punishes it, merely because it tends to make them 7niserable : All
he has in viexv, in his commands and prohibitions — m his promi-
ses and threatenings, is the good, and nothing but merely the good,
of his creatures ; yea, he esteems things to he virtuous, merely be-
cause they tend to make us happy..,. and vicious, merely because
they tend to make us miserable : And noxv, therefore, if we look
upon things as he does, and prosecute the same end — if we love
and practise virtue xvith a sincere vieto to our own happiness, as
our LAST END, xve do all that God would have us do. And how
can we, if we weigh things, but most heartily and sincerely love
so good a God..,. so kind a father, who so dear It/ loves us, ands»
tenderly seeks our good ?

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 217

Ans. TiTie, if God were verily swc/i an onc^ the most wicked
man in the world could not but love him. Self-love would
make it natural. Even publicans love those who love them ;
and are good to those who are kind to them..., Mat. v. Did
men firmly Itelieve God to be such an one, they could not, in-
deed, possibly be at enmity against him. Self-love would not
. admit of it : Men would not need any grace to make them love
God : Nature would make them love him : They could iiot
but love him, so long as they love themselves. And now, if
God, indeed, be such an one, I readily own there is no truth
in my whole scheme ; but, from fii'st to last, Ic is all a mistake :
for it is altogether built upon a supposition that there is a God,
of a temper esaentially different.

But then I would ^t/erj/, if God be such an one. ...if he aims
onlv at his creatures' happiness, why does he ever inflict misery
upon them ? If he means only to make them happ}-, why does
he ever make them miserable ? Why did he drown the old
%vorld...hox\\ »S'oc/om....and why does he damn sinners to all
eternity ?

It cannot be because j?^vf/ce requires it: for, upon this scheme,
justice does not require it : For, upon this scheme, sin does, in
strict justice, deserve no punishment at all.

A crime deserves no punishment any farther than it is blame-
worthy : A crime is blame-worthy, no farther than v/e ai-e un-
der obligations to do otherwise. According to their scheme,
all our obligations to be virtuous result merely from its tenden-
cy to make us happy : * Upon their scheme, therefore, a sinner

[* CC/" The jc/j(?m<? which the Author here opposes, is that which founds
the obligation to virtue, solelv\^\^o\\ the tendency of virtue itself to promote
individual happiness — a scheme of perfect selfishness, and pregnant with all
the absurd consequences which the Author has endeavored to attach to it.

There is another theory distinct from this, and not liable to the same
objections, which founds our obligations to virtuf. upon its tendency to pro-
mote public happiness, or the good of God's creatures, collectively consid-
ered. This theory, it will be recollected, the Author opposes in a note, page
Slst, where he more than intimates that our obligations to virtue arise, nut
from the mere 'will of Got, nor from any tendency in virtue to promote our
own happiness, or the happiness of others, but wholly fror.i the intrini^ic
inoral fitness of things, considered absolutely. But is there no difficulty in
conceiving of the ?Horrt/7lfHCAJ? or K/j/Jfw** of things, aside from their ob-

218 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

is to blame for his sins, merely because sin is cross to his own
happiness, and tends to make him miserable 5 — there is no oth-
er evil in sin but this. This is the only reason why God hates
it — is set against it, and disposed to punish it ; This is the only
reason why he would have them avoid it ; and this is the only
reason they are to blame for it. No man is blame-worthy for
sin any farther than he M-as under obligations to the contrary'.
All our obligations to virtue, according to them, arise from its
natural tendency to make us happy : and, therefore, all the evil
of sin must arise from its natural tendency to make us misera-
ble : This misery, therefore, is exactly equal to the evil of sin ;
for (5/7 the evil of sin arises from it, or rather consists in it : This
misery is all the evil of sin ; and this miser}'^ is, therefore^ all
that renders sin blame-worthy, i. e. I am to blame for taking a
course that tends to make me miserable : And why ?.... Mere-
ly because it tends to make me miserable ; for that reasoUj and
for no other : Therefore, I am so much to blame, and no more,
for what I do, than according to the degree of its tendency to
make me miserable : This misery, therefore, which naturally
results from what I do, is equal to my blame — and is, therefore,
the xvorst^ and fl//that I deserve ; for no crime deserves to be
punished, any farther than it is blame-worthy.* And from the

vioils tendency to promote or hinder the happiness of the moral world ?
True, it may be said that our perceptions of ri^kt and zi-rong are wholly dis-
tinct from those of happiness and misery : But is it certain that they are
wholly distinct froin our perceptions of the natural tendency oi right and
vjrong to produce these diiferent ends ? Why does it appear r/^Ar to do jus-
tice between man and man, but because public and private happiness ev-
idently require it ?

Perhaps, however, upon a strict enquiry, it would appear that our obli-
gations to virtue rest not wholly upon any single principle ; but are ground-
ed upon all those considerations which, according to various schemes, may
be justly admitted as proper motives to virtuous action : such as the moral
fitness of things — che tendency of virtue — the glory of God, and the authority
of his law. To reduce ail to a single principle, as difterent theorists have
done, is not only to exclude some motive wliich ought unquestionably to in-
luence our conduct, but to liold up those wliich are confused, if not unjust,
instead of such as are clear and determinate.]

* Ob J. " But are n-enot, according to their scheme, under obligations result-
" '"SJ^'^^^^ ^^^ authority a;!f/ command of God !"'

Ans. We are, according to their scheme, underno obligations to regard
the authority 3. Lid coviv.iand of God at all ; only, and merely, and purely,

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrElTS. 219

whole, to a demonstration, it follows, that, upon their scheme,
sin desen'es no inflicted pain or miser\-,by v.'ay of punishment,
over and abovQ the pain or misery which results necessarily from
its own nature : And now, if sia does not deserve any such
punishment, then justice does no; ret^uire the Governor of the
world to inflict any such upon any of his creatures, though ev-
er so sinful ; for justice does not require him to inflict a pun-
ishment that Is not at ail deserved — yea, rather it seems cruel-
ty so to do. If, therefore, justice did not require it, why did
God drown the old worlds and burn Sodom — and why docs he
damn sinners to all eternity ?

Certainly he did not aim at their good when he drowned the
old world and burnt Sodom ; and certainly he cannot aim at .'din-
ners'' good m their eternal damnation. There are some calam-
ities in this life, which God might be supposed to send upon
his creatures for their good ; and indeed, all things consideied,
they are well adapted to do them good ; yea, and are all made
to work together for good to them that love God, and may be
numbered among their mercies : But what shall wc say when
God drowns a whole world, burns up several cities, and damns
to all eternity millions of his creatures- — yea, and all for noth-
ing, when they deserved no ill at his hands, not the least ! Where
is his justice now P Ye2L,zuhere is his goodness P Or what does
he mean ? What does he intend ?

Certainly he cannot intend to deal so severely with some
of his poor creatures, who never deserved any ill at his hands,
merely for the good of others., to fright, and v/arn, and deter them
from vice : for this would be to do evil that p-ood mii^htccme —

Wcausc it is for our interest so to do — as themr.elvcs acknowledge.

Obj. " But are ve not, according to thetii, obliged fo have regard fo our
neighbor's %sdjare ?

Ans. Ofily, merely, purely because it is for our own interest to do so :
for, according to them, all our obligations to practise any virtue, arise, ori-
ginally, only from its being for our own interest. The language of such a
practice plainly is, that there is not one being in the whole system wcrth
regarding, but myself : — lam, aiui besides vie there is no otter ! I will regard
none, hut just to answer my own ends ; and so, really and strictly, regard
none but myself : rhis is a rc!ig''in that will suit rjafure / and, in tills sense,
may justly be cs^licd natural reiigion,

220 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

yea, this would be the way rather that good might never come ;
for how could any of his creatures or subjects heartily love him
or like his conduct, while they behold millions of their fellow-
creatures suffering, for nothing at all, such infinite pains under
his hands ? Where is his justice ? would they all cry : And
xvhereis his goodness ? They would hate him, and flee from
him, and dread a government so infinitely tyrannical. Indeed,
to inflict a pi'oper punishment, in case of just desert, is a good
thing — tends to m"intain government, and make men afraid of
sin, and stand in awe of the great Law-giver and Judge of the
world: Yea, it is a beautiful conduct, and tends to make God
appear amiable in the eyes of all holy beings... .i?ey. xix. 1 — 6.
But to afflict and torment poor creatures, who do not at all de-
serve it, and that forever, cannot possibly answer any good end ;
but, of necessity, must promote athousandbad ones, when, all tha
time, the true state of the case is publicly known and understood
throughout all God's dominions. It is just as if a father, who
has ten children, should tie up five every Monday morning, and
whip them almost to death for nothing in the world but to make
the rest love him, and be good and obedient children : And
would they love him any the more for this ? Yea, they could
not but hate so cruel a tyrant : Now, therefore, if their scheme
be true, why did God drown the old world, and burn Sodom 7
And why does he damn sinners to all eternity ?

Yea, if sin deserves no inflicted punishment, as, upon tjheir
scheme j it does not, why does God ever once inflict the least, the
very least punishment for it in all his dominions ? And that
which, though not, in its own nature, more unaccountable, yet is
more surprising, why has God, all along, from the beginning
of the world, been inflicting such a dreadful train of punishments
for sin \ Why did God turn the angeh out of heaven for their
first sin, and doom them to an etei-nal hell, when they did not
at all deserve it ? Why did God threaten Adam with death in
case of disobedience ? — Why is death said to be the wages of
sin ? — Why did God cause the earth to open and swallow up
Korah and his company ? — Why did God cause the carcases of

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 221

six hundred thousand to fall in the wilderness ? — Why did God
strike Uzza dead ? And why a thousand more things which
have happened in the sight of the world? Surely it cannot be
for our good to be struck dead and sent to hell ; and surelv it
cannot be iov xht good of any in all God's world, thatsha'l see
or ever hear of it, when, all the while, it is publicly known
that we deserve no ill at God's hands — no , not the least.

And now, after all, to torment us in hell forever, for nothing
in the world, where the Jire shall 77ever be quenched^ and the
worm shall ?iever die ; yea, and to appoint a day of judgment,
under a pretence of doing nothing but strict justice ; and to
summon all worlds together, to see and hear, to the end that
his impartiality and justice might appear to all, when, all the
while, he knows, and all the world knows, that his poor crea-
tures deserve no ill at his hands — no, not the least ! What can
lie mean ?

Yea, and that which is a great deal worse than all, that I even
shudder to think of it, he not only makes a law to punish sin-
ners eternally in liell, when there was no reason for it, but puts
it in execution upon his poor creatures who do not deserve it ;
but, having one only Son, of equal glory with himself, he de-
livers him to death, in the room and stead of sinners ; pretend-
ing that sin was so bad a thing, that without the shedding of
blood there could be no remission^ and therefore his ovm Son must
(lie, to the end he might bejust^ruhile he justified the si7iner that
should believe in him — while, all the time, if their scheme is
true, he knew, and all the world will know, sooner or later, that
sin nevel- deserved the least punishment at his hands \

To conclude, therefore, if God be what they suppose, I grant
the scheme I have laid down is not right ; and it is equallv
evident that the Bible is not right neither : for the larv and the
gospel, the Old Tcstatnetit and the JVtTf, ever}* where suppose,
and take it for granted, tbat sin is an infinite e\ il — deserves the
wrath and curse of God.. .all the miseries of this life, and death
itself, and the pains of hell forever ; — tlie law threatens all this.
According to the gospel^ Christ has died to redeem us from all

222 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

this, as what \\-cjiii:tiy deserve : The ^/i7c, therefore, in a word,
supposes we deserve it all ; but their scheme supposes we do
not. The God that made the Bible, has no doubt of it ; he
made his law upon this ground, and upon this footing he gave his
Son to die.. ..has appointed a day of judgment, and prepared a
place of torment — a lake of fire and brimstone : but their God is
of quite another mind.... can seenosuch iniinite evilin sin — yea,
no evil at ail in it, but what re&ults from its tendency to make us
miserable : Thtir God^ therefore, is not the God of Israel, nor
the God that made the Bible ; and, therefore, is no God.. ..'is noth-
ing but an image framed in their own fancy, suited to their
own hearts.

Besides, then idea of God h contrary not only thus to the gen-
eral tenor of scripture, but also to many plain and express dec-
larations. (1.) It is manifest that God does not make the hap-
piness of his creatures his last end, from Exod, ix. 16-~-Numb.
xiv. 13 — 21 — Lev. x. 3 — Psalm cvi. 8 — Ezek. xx. throughout.
Ezek. xxxvi. 21, 22, 23, and xxxviii. 23, and xxxix. 6, 7, 13,
21, 22 — Rom. ix. 22, 23 — Rom. xi. 36 — Rev. iv. 11. (2.) It
is manifest that God does not require his creatures to love and
obey him mereiv because it tends to make them happy so to
do, from Exod. xx. 2 — Lev. xix. 2 — Psalm xxix. 2, and xcvi.
4, 8, and cxlviii. 1^ — I. Cor. vi. 20. (3.) It is manifest that
God does nbt threaten and punish sin merely because it tends
to m^ke his creatures miserable, from I. Sam. ii. 29, 30 — II.
Sam. xii. 7 — U— Psalm li. 4 — Mai. i. 6, 7, 8, 14.

But to conclude ; — how sad and dreadful a thing will it be,
for poor sinners, when they come to die, and enter into the
world of spirits, there to ftnd that the God they once loved and
trusted in, was nothing but an image framed in their own fancy !
They hated the God of Israel, and hated his laiv^ and therefore
would not believe that God or his law were indeed what they
were. They were resolved to have a God and a la^v more to
their minds. How dreadful will their disappointment be ! How
dreadful their surprise ! They would never own they were en-
emies to God ; now they see their enmity was so great as t»

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL CO.UNTERFEITS. 223

make them resolutely, notwithstanding the plainest evidence,
even to deny him to be what he was : And how righteous will
the ways of the I^ord appear to be, in that he gave such over to
strong delusions to believe a lie, who did not love, and would
not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness ?....
II. Then. ii. 10, 11, 12 : So, the Gf;i?/7f m2f/o;i.9, not liking to re-
tain God in their knowledge, were given over to reprobate minds,
and left ever)' nation to make such a God ?i%ht9,\. pleased them-
selves....i?o/«. i. — But it is time to proceed to the next i«<?.
SECTION VI.
RULES OF TRIAL.

Use II. Which may be of examination. What has been
said may serve to clear up, to real saints, their gracious state, and
may afford matter of conviction to others.

And here I would take the humble believer in his clement,
that is, in his closet, where he retires from the noise and bu5i-
ness of the world — where he loves to be alone, to read the Bi-
ble....to meditate on the perfections of God, and think of his
works and ways — where he mourns, and prajs, and loves God,
and gives up himself to him : In a serious hour of sweet retire-
ment, when you are most yonrselJ\ and your thoughts most about
you, I would enquire, What are your views ? And what is the
inrvard temper of your mind ? And hozv do you live ? And what
is it that habitually injluences you in your daily conduct ?

Do you know God ? Do you see him to be such an one as
ho really is — even such an one as the scriptures represent hi in
to be ? And do }'ou account him infinitely glorious and amia-
ble in being such an one ? And do you begin to love him with
all your heart ? Do you esteem him so as to exult in his su-
premacy and absolute sovereigntv ? And so will seek his g1or\',
and value his honor and interest, as to give up yourself to live
to him ; and so delight in him, as to choose hiuifor '/our pres-
ent and everlasting portion ? True, your remaining blindness
and ignorance is very great : but do you not feel it, and groan
wnder it as your burden, and hate yourself for it as jour sin, la-
menting the sottishncss of your heart, that vou should be so

F F

224 THUK RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

senseless and brutish, after so many outwarci advantages and in-
ward helps, and amidst such clear manifestations made of God
and of his infinite glory, in his word, and in all his works and
ways.; and feel that you are wholly to blame for the stupidity
and unteachableness of your heart — ready to say with him of
old, So foolish am /, and ignorant^ lam as a beast before thee f...
Psalm Ixxiii. 22. Your disesteem of God, and unconcerned-
ness about his honor and interest, is great, and you have still a
disposition to hate to live upon God only, without any thing
else to take comfoit in, as the portion of your soul ; and so you
are inclined to forget God. ...to forsake him. ...to depart, and
go away, and fall in love with something else, and seek another
resting-place, and something else to take comfort in : But do
you not feel this your remaining want of conformity to God's
law, and native contrariety to it ? And do you not hate it, and
hate yourself for it ? Do you not groan under it, and lament it,
and watch, and pray, and fight against it, feeling the infinite
sinfulness of it ? saying, Thelaxv is holy ^ just ^ and good ; but I
am carnal, sold under sin : 0 xvretchedman that /aw .'....Rom.
vii. 14,24.

And what are the grounds of your love to God, and from
what motives is it that you are influenced to love him? Does
God, indeed, appear infinitely great, glorious, and amiable in
being what he is ? And do you love him because he is just such
an one t Do you love to meditate his incomprehensibly glori-
ous perfections, and wonder and adore ? Are you glad that he
knows all things, and can do every thing ? Are the various man-
ifestations of divine wisdom, in the moral government of the
world, glorious in your eyes ? Does it suit your heart that God
governs the world as he does ? Do you love that the pride of
all flesh should be brought low, and the Lord alone be exalted ?
Are you glad that God loves righteousness and hates iniquity
as he does ; and do you heartily approve the strictness of his
law in the matter of your duty, and the severity thereof against
the least sin ? And are you sweetly sensible of the infinite good-
ness of God, and of his truth and faithfulness ? And does God

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 225

appear infinitely glorious because he is just what he is ? And
is this the primary foundation of your love ?...In a word, do you
see him as the great Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the
^'Qj-ld — as the Redeemer, Sanctifier, and Savior of his people,
as he has thus revealed liimsclf, by his word, and in his works ;
and do you love him for being what he is ? And do you also
feel the powerful influence of those superadded obligations you
are under to love him ? — In other cases, when we love any thing,
we know why we love it : so, also, do believers know why they
love the Lord their God.

And does it not appear to you infinitely reasonable that you
should love God with all your heart — that you should be wholly
his, and wholly for him, and make him your all, while you be-
. hold his infinite glory... .his complete all-sufficiency.. ..his origi-
nal, entire right to you, and absolute authority over you ? And
does not his law, in requiring you to do so, appear to be infinite-
ly right, perfectly holy, just, and good..,. worthy to stand in full
force forever, unabated and unaltered ? And do you not see
that the least want of conformity to this law, or transgiession
of it, is infinitely vile, and that a perfect conformity thereto de-
serves no thanks ? And do you not feel yourself wholly to blame
for your not bemg altogether such as the law requires ? Hypo-
crites are generally very ignorant of the law, in its true mean-
ing and strictness ; and so are ignorant of their want of confor-
mity unto it, and of their inward contrariety to \t....I^om. vii. 8, 9
— for otherwise all hypocrites would know certainly that they
have no grace. But yet hypocrites, at least many of them,
know something about the law, and their want of conformity
to it, and something about their inward contrariety to it ; and
hence may complain of the blindness of their minds, the dead-,
ness of their hearts, and of their pride and woi^ldliness : but no
hypocrite is heartily sensible that the law isholy, just, and good
in requiring perfection ; and that he himselfis entirely to blame
for not being perfectly holy, and that the fault is wholly his.
Some will say, " I desire to love God, and to aim at his glor)-,
"and do my duty ; but no man is, or can be perfect ; and God.

225 TRUE REtlGION DELINEATED, AND

*' docs not require more of us than we can do :" And so they
think themselves excusable, and are not sensible that it is infi-
nitely vile in them not to love God with all their hearts. Oth-
ers will say, " I can do nothing of myself : it is Christ that must
" do all. I desire to love God, but I cannot : It is the spirit
" that must fill my heart with love, and God is the sovereign
" dispenser of his grace ; so that, if I am dead, and dull, and
"senseless, and stupid, I cannot help it :" And so they also
think themselves excusable, and are not sensible that it is infi-
nitely vile in th'cm not to io\'e God with all their hearts. But
now, how stands the case with you ? Have you any secret way
of excusing yourself ? Or do you see that the law is holy, just,
and good, and that you only are to blame, wholly to blame, and
altogether without excuse ; yea, and exceedingly vile, for all
your blindness and deadness, and forever) thing wherein you are
not just what the lav/ requires you to be ? It is this which makes
believers sensible of their desert of damnation, all their lives
long, and loathe and abhor themselves before the Lord : and it
is this which causes them more and more to see their need of
Christ and free grace, and admire and prize the glorious gospel.
0 wretched man that I am I Who shall deliver me ? IthankGod^
through Jesus Christ our Lord.... Kom. vii. 24, 25.

And do you begin to be of a disposition really to love your
neighbor as yourself ? Are your affections under the govern-
ment of a spirit of disinterested impartiality, so that you arc
disposed to value yourself only for those properties in you that
are good and excellent, and only in proportion to their worth
and excellence ; and, by this rule, to esteem your neighbors,
your friends, and your foes, and all men ? And do you hate a
contrary- disposition in you ? And is your heart fuU of love, and
kindness, and benevolence, wishing well to all, seeking the
^ood of all, and even grieved when yotir enemies are in ad-
versity ?

And to conclude ; — does love to God and to vour neighbor
govern you in your thoughts, affections, and actions, and daily
influence ycu to live to God, and do good in the world ; so

DISTIKGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 227

that now you arc not your own, but given up to God, to do his
will, seeking his glory ? A holy life does as naturally proceed
from a holy heart, as a stream does from a living fountain.

Once you was darkness : But are you now light in the Lord ?
Once, as to right spiritual views of God. ...your neighbor, or
yourself....of tbis world or the next, you had none ; — you was
blind. ...your understanding was darkened ; and so your appre-
hensions were va^ong, and you loved your wrong apprehensions,
....and took pleasure in error, falshood, and sin... .and hated the
light — hated truth and duty ; — once you was wholly devoid
of the divine image, and destitute of all good — yea, and you was
wholly averse from God, and full of all evil : And did you ev-
er see and feel this to be your state ? And have you, by divine
grace, been recovered out of it ? Have you been effectually
taught that your light was darkness, and your knowledge igno-
rance, and been made sensible of the blindness of your mind ?
And have you learnt that all your seeming goodness was coun-
terfeit, and that in you did dwell no good thing — yea, that your
seeming goodness was real wickedness, in that your heart was
in perfect contrariety to God and his law ? Has divine light shi-
ned in your heart, and your native darkness, as well as contrac-
ted blindnesss,been dispelled from your soul ; so that novv^ycur
views of God — of your neighbor and yourself — of this Vv'orld
and the next, are right, and )our apprehensions according to
truth ? And has the truth made you free ? Do you now look
upon God, in some measure, according to the capacity of a crea-
ture, as he does upon himself, when he takes upon him the char-
acter of most high God, supreme Lord, and sovereign
GovERKOR of the whole world, and says, lam the Lord....tliat
i:> my naine^ aud hc:;idcst me there is no other God? And do \ou
see it is infinitely fit that all the world should love, worship,
and adore him ? Do vou now look upon your neighbors in
some measure as God docs, when he commands you to love
them as yourself; and so sec that it is perfectly right that you
should ? And do you look upon yourself, and every thing in
this world, in some measure as God does, when he commands

228 TKUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND "

you to deny yourself, and forsake all things for his sake ; and
see that it is most fit and reasonable to die to yourself and to
this world, and give up yourself to God, to love him, and live
to him, and delight in him forever ? And do ypu understand
that the tilings which are seen are temporal, and that the things
which are unseen are eternal ? And do all possible troubles in
the ways of God, in some measure, appear only as light afflic-
tions, which are but for a moment, and not worthy to be com-
pared with the glory that shall be revealed ? Do you thus know
the truth. ...and has the truth made you free from your old ser-
vitude ; and are you effectually influenced and governed by
these views and apprehensions, and this sense of things, to bring
forth fruit to God, an hundred-fold, or sixty-fold, or at least
thirty-fold ? For divine knowledge is efficacious, and the holy
and divine effects and fruits are always equal to the degree of
knowledge : (I. John iii. 6)... And every branch which bringeth
not forth fruity is cut off and cast into the fre. Are you thus
born again, and become a new creature, and learnt to live a new
and divine life ?

And is it not now most manife;st to you that all this is so far
from having been the product of nature, that all that is in nature
....every natural propensity of the heart, has, from first to last,
been utterly against the change, and made a constant and mighty
resistance ? And do you not plainly perceive, that, from first
to last, the work has been begun and carried on by God himself ?

And does it not appear to you as the most astonishing good-
ness in God, and owing to nothing but his sovereign free grace,
that you have thus been called out of darkness into marvellous
light — ^turned from the power of sin and satan, to serve the liv-
ing God ? And do you not plainly see there is nothing but the
same infinite goodness and free grace to move God to carry on
and complete this work in your heart, and that so, if ever you
get to heaven, the whole of your salvation, from first to last,
will be absolatelv and entirely to be attributed to free grace 1
And have you not hence learnt to live upon free grace, through
Jesus Christ, for all things ?

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUxNT ERFEITS. . 2:29

And do you not perceive that he, who has begun, does ac-
tualhj cany on the work of grace in your hearts ? And that all
the external dispensations of providence and internal influences
of the spirit concur in their operation, to humble you, and wean
\ou from the world, and imiMtter sin — to bring you nearer to
God, and to love him, and to live to him, and to live upon him—
and to make }ou more serious. ...more spiritually-minded and
heavenly-minded. ...more watchful and pra} crful, imd more lov-
ing, and kind, and tender-hearted, and obliging to all mankind,
both friends and foes — and to make you daily attend upon the
duties of your particular calling, and upon all the common bu-
siness of life, as a servant of God, in singleness of heart, doing
service to the Lord ?

And althouc;h you was once dead in sin^ and wholly widiout
strength, yet do you not now feel that 30U are spiritually alive,
and so put into a capacity for a spiritual activity, and that you
are engaged to be active for God h,..Not that your snjpciency
is of ijoiirsclf^ as once you thought it was : for yow arc not siif-
fdcnl of ijonrndf as of yourself ; but your sufficicncij is of God:
Yet do \ ou not find that, through Christ\- sirengtheimig^
you can do all things ? And do you not, from the heart, hate
the way of lazy, dead-hearted hypocrites, who sit still, and care-
lessly ciy, " We can do jiothing — it is Christ that must do all ;"
and, under a notion of not doing any thing in their own strength,
gratify their laziness, and do nothing at all I Accursed laziness !
Accursed hypocrisy ! — Do you not feel, I say, that you are put
into a capacity for spiritual activity ? And are you not engaged
to be active for God ? For you are Iiis ivorkmnnship^ created in
Christ fesus unto good xvorks^ that you might walk in thetn.—i-
While the spirit of God is taking down the power of sin in your
heart, and slaying your corruptions, are you not also crucifying
thejlcsh rvith the a^'ections and lusts ? While God is working
in you to ivillandto do^ are you not working out your salvation
with fear atul trembling.. ..with filial fear and holy concern ?^
While the spirit of God gives you might in the inner vian^ do
ttot )o\xput on thexuhole arinourofGod^undfightwithJiesh and

230 TRUE RELIGION- DELINEATED, AND

blood.. .. -With principalkie.^ and poxvers ? This is the way of be-
lievers. And the spirit does not come upon them by fits, as it
did upon Balaam, but dwells in them and abides in them forev-
er— to purify theynfrom all iniquity ^ and make them a peculiar
people^ zealous of good xvorks.

Finally, do you not experience that your religion is some-
thing real and perceptible^ and see that it is specifcally different
from any thing that possibly can arise merely from a principle
of self-love ? You perceive your views of God, and sense of his
greatness, glor\', and beauty ; and you perceive your sense of
the world's emptiness, and of your own natural vileness and
wretchedness ; and your love to God.. ..your weanedness from
the world, and your moaming for sin are perceptible : And is
it not easy to perceive why you love God — are weaned from
the world, and mourn for sin ; namely, because God is infinite-
ly lovely, the world empty and worthless, and sin the greatest
evil ? And while these views and affections effectually influence
you to all holy living, their genuineness is made still more ev-
ident and plain : and, from the whole, you arise to a rational
and scriptural knowledge of your gracious state.

From what has been said upon this subject, a great variety
of other questions might be put to the believer ; but the. whole
has been treated so plainly and practically, that I need add no
more : And if graceless persons had it in their hearts to be
honest and impartial, they might easily know that they are stran-
gers to real religion : But if they have not the thing itself, they
will either v/ork up something like it, or else deny that there is
any such thing : for he that doth evil, hateth the light ; and so
does he who has a rotten heart. And hence some cry, " I'he
" best have their failings ;" and they watch and catch at the fail-
ings of such as are accounted godly, and dwell upon them, and
magnify them .; and so quiet their consciences, and go on in
their sins : Others cry, " The best are dead sometimes ;" and
so maintain their hopes, although they lie dead whole monUis
and years together, and live in sin, and never come to sound re-
pentance : Odiers cry, " You will discourage weak christians i"

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS, 231

meaning themselves. — Just as if there were a sort of christians
that cannot bear the light, nor stand a scriptural trial. What
will they do when they come before the awful bar of the heart-,
searching God ! Others cry, " But every christian does not
experience alike ;" and so, though they are destitute of the very
essence and life of religion, yet they hope all is well ; and ma-
ny are confident that these things are not so ; " For," say they,
" if these things be true, who then shall be saved ?" — I answer,
^Strait is the gate, and narrow is the ivay that leads to life ; and
few there be that find it : But wide is the gate, and broad is the
way that leads to destruction, and many go in thereat. ...ISlaU vii,
13, 14. And mark v.hat follows in the next verse, (\5^... Be-
ware of false prophets.^ which come to you in sheep''s-clothingy but
imuardly are ravening ruolves : (ver. 16').,.. Te shall know them
by their fruits. By what fruits ? Why, this is the constant
character of false prophets throughout the Bil^le, tliat they cry,
Peace and safety, and heal the wound of poor sinners slightly, and
daub xuith untempcrcd mortar ; i. e. they make religion to be
an easier thing than it is — more agreeable to corrupt nature ;
and so encourage sinners to rest in something short of true
grace. So the Pharisees 6\d, notwithstanding all their pretend-
ed strictness ; and so the Arminians do, notwithstanding all
their seeming zeal for good works ; and so the Antincniiana
do, notwithstanding all their pretences to extraordinar}' light,
and joy, and zeal, and purity, and holiness. And this is the
common character of all false prophets, and false teachers, and
heretics, that, bciug enemies to true religion, they cut out a false
scheme in their heads, to suit their own hearts ; and so, how-
ever greatly they may differ, in many things, yet herein all agree,
to make religion an easier thing than the Bible does, and to
make the gate wider, and the way broader, than Christ and his
apostles ; and, by this mark, the difference between them and
the true prophets may always be certainly known : and there-
fore Christ having just said, 6'^;'m7/s ?//e^r7?e, and narrow the
way, &c. immediately adds, Bervare of false prophets — by their
fruits ye shall know them ; for they all invent some easier wa\'

G G

232 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

to heaven, though it may be in sheep's doth'mg^ \. e. under a show
oi great strictntiis : And this, their invention, h€\ngfols€y they
are thus d.Q.nommA.\.tdi fuLe prophets : And dius, what has been
said concerning the nature of true religion, may serve to clear
up the behever's gracious state ; and may afford matter of con*
viction to others.

SECTION VII.

WE HAVE GREAT REASON TO BE HUMBLE, AND THANKFUL,

AND LIVE ENTIRELY DEVOTED TO GOD.

Use III. CJf hiimilkition. What has been said may be
improved by sinners and saints to promote their humihation :
For by the law is the knowledge of sin •; and a sight and sense
of our sinfulness tends to abase us before the Lord.

In this glass of the /fity, sinners may see what they are, in
heart and life ; and, by this rule, they may learn how God looks
upon them. There is a knowledge of ourselves — of our hearts
and lives, that is fiatural to us. Men, by their power of self-
reflection, have a sort of an acquaintance with themselves : they
know their present views and designs — their present inclinations
and way of living ; and remember, more or less, how they have
lived in years past : But men are naturally very ignorant of the
nature of God, and of his holy law ; and so, are very ignorant of
themselves, in a moral sense-^are very insensible hozv God looks
upon them, and what their hearts and lives are, compared with
God and his holy law. Natural conscience has some notions
about right and wrong, and so does something towards accusing
and condemning men, especially for their grosser sins ; but na-
tural conscience is, for the most part, so blind, and so much
asleep, and, in most men, has been so much abused, and brow-
beat, and kept under, that it lets men pretty much alone. Men
hold the truth in unrighteousness,^ according to the Apostle's
phrase, and keep their consciences in chains ; and so are, in a
great measure, ■without the laxv ; and hence, sin is dead : for
rvhere there is no Icav^ there is no transgression : And when
men know not the law in its true meaning and extent, they are
insensible how they swerve from it, and how contrarj' they are

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 233

to it, and how sinfiJsia is : But when the commandment comes ^
sin revives.

Think of tlijs, therefore, O sinner, that the infinitely glorious
God, your Creator, Preserver, and Governor, deserves to be
loved, and Uved to, and delighted in with all your heart ; and
that this is what he requires at your hands : and know it, he
hates your hypocritical shov»s and pretences, so long as that,
in heart, he sees you are an enemy to him : You may
pretend that you cannot help your heart's being so bad ; but God
knows you love your corruptions, and hate to have them slain,
and love to have them gi-atifted : You love to be proud, and
hence )ou love to be applauded ; and the praise of men is sweet,
and of greater price with you than the praise of God : you will
do more to please the world than to please God — } ca, will dis-
please God, to keep in with a wicked world, who hate God ;
and God knows it : You love to lo\e the world ; and hence love
to lay worldly schemes, and are secretly ravished with worldly
hopes when things are likely to go well, and account no pains
too great in worldly pursuits ; but you hate to pray in secret —
have no heart for God — can take no delight in, him ; and Ciod
knows it. And will you now pretend, for your excuse, that
you cannot help your heart's being so bad, when it is j/ou
youn elf ihJLt are so bad, and love to besobad> and hate to cease
to be what you are ? If God has, by his spirit, awakened- your
conscience a little, and terrified you with the fears of hell and
wrath, it may be your corruptions are somewhat stunn;.d, and
honor and worldly gains do not appear so tempting, and you are
ready to say that you would willingly part with your reputation,
and every thing you have in the world, for an interest in Christ
and the divine favor ; and now you think you are sincere : but
God knows it is all hypocrisy ; for he sees you do not care for
him, but are only afraid of damnation. And God knows that,
if once you should get a false confidence of pardon and the di-
vine favor, you would soon return to folly, as the dog to his
vomit, and set out after the world as eagerh' as e\ er ; or else
vent your corruptions in spiritual pi" ide, and in riinting, enthu-

234- TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND.

siastic, wild-fire, and party selfish zeal, as thousands have done,
who once felt just as you do now. God, therefore, does not
mind your pretences, nor believe your promises ; for he knows
what you are. You may deceive yourself, but cannot deceive
him ; He knows your corruptions are stunned, but not mortifi-
ed ; and that your nature is just what it was, and you as really
an enemy to God as ever : And, it may be, you may see it yet,
w^hen you come to find out how God looks upon you, and upon
your prayers, and tears, and promises : for it is commonly the
case v.'ith sinners, when they perceive that God is not pleased
with their devout pretences, and does not design to save them
for their hypocritical duties, by the secret workings of their
hearts to discover that they care only for. themselves, and are
real enemies to God and his law. Love to God, O sinner, is
not begotten by the fears of hell, nor by the hopes of heaven.
If 30U do not love God for what he is in himself, you do not
love him at all ; but only flatter him with your lips, and lie un-
to him with your tongue. But it may be manifest to you that
you do not love him for v/hat he is in himself, because you do
not love his law, which bears his image. You do not like the
law as a rule for you to live by, for it is too strict for you ; and
you do not approve of the law as a rule for God to judge you
b}^, for you think it hard for God to damn men for the least sin.
Know it, therefore, O sinner, that there is no good in you, or any
goodness in your duties j but you are in a state of rebellion —
an enemy to God, and to his holy law: come down, and
lie in the dust before the Lord, and own the sentence just by
which you stand condemned, and be quiet at his feet j and if
ever he saves you, forever attribute it wholly to free and sove-
reign grace* When the commandment C(vne^ sin revived^andl
died : And such an one was you, O believer ; and, in some
measure, you are such an one still ; and, in some respects, your
sins arc a great deal more aggravated. Oh ! never forget the
days, and weeks, and months, and years you have formerly spent
in sin ! Once I was a persecutor^ and a blasphemer^ and injurious^
said St. Paul ; and his heart bleeds afresh, and he sets himself

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 235

downfor the chief of sinners. ...I, Tim. i. 13, 15. But what arc
you no\v, after all the grace of God.. ..after all the kind methods
heaven has taken to reclaim you — and what are j'our attain-
ments, if you compare }'ourself and attainments with the holy
law of God, in its spiritual nature and divine strictness ? Do you
feel such a heart towards the great and glorious Governor of the
whole world, as bi;comes you ? Think what a God he is, and
how angels and saints on high love him: Think of his majest}',
and greatness, and glory, and excellence — and how he is the
fear, and delight, and joy of all heaven : Think of his original
and entire right to you, and absolute authority over you : Think
of the viieneso of jour apostacy, and of the depth of your ruin :
Think of redeeming Jove : Think of converting grace : Think
of the man}' means God has used widi you in his providence,
and by his spirit: Think of all his loving kindnesses and tender
mercies. And think what a beast you are before the Lord !
Lie down in the dust, and cry, and mourn, and weep, and let
your heart break ! Oh, your want of love to God.. ..of zeal for
his glory....of dehght in his perfections, and of gratitude for all
his kindness ! Alas, how you disesteem the God that angels
love, and comparatively despise the God that all heaven adores !
Alas, how careless you are about his honor and interest, and
how inactive in his service ! Alas, how you disrelish the foun-
tain of all goodness, and the ocean ox all blessedness, and han-
ker after other things, and go away from God, to seek rest else-
where, and thereby cast infmite contempt upon the delight of
heaven, and the joy of angels, the ever-blessed and all-sufticient
God ! Think of the peculiar obligations God has laid you un-
der by all the secret ways of his providence and grace with you,
and of all the infinite pains he has taken with you to make }ou
humble... .weaned from the world. ...devoted to God.. ..loving,
kind, tender-hearted, friendly, and obliging to all mankind, and
universally holy ; and see, and say, ' Was ever wretch so vile !
Did ever wretch treat such a God in such a manner, under such
circumstances !' Oh, how far, how infinitely far you are from
being what you ought to be ! This made St. Paul account him-

256 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

self less than the least of all saints^ and forget the things that are
behind : his attainments dwindled away, as it were, to nothings
when he compared himself with God's holy law, and thought
what he ought to be, and what obligations he was undei- ; and
he did, therefore, as it were, set down all that he had hitherto
attained for nothing, and feel and act as if he was but just now
beginning to live to God. Rom. vii. 14.., .The Laxv is spirit
tual^ but I am carnal^sold under sin — verse ^^.....Owtxtched man
that lam ! — Phil. iii. 13, 14....! forget the things-which are be-
hind.... I reach forth towards those things rvhich are before..,,!
press towards the mark : and, O believer, go you, and do likewise.
Besides, remember that it is no thanks to you that you are
not to this day secure in sin ; yea, that you are not one of the
vilest and most profane creatures in the world : Your nature
was bad enough ; — the seeds of every sin were in your heart ;
—but for restraining or sanctifying grace, you mighthave been as
bad as any in Sodom. And what was it moved God to awaken
you, and stop you in your career in sin, and turn you to God ? — .
Was it for your righteousness ?...Oh, be ashamed and confound-
ed forever! — For his own sake he has done it, when you was a
stubborn, stiff-necked, rebellious creature. A nd truly, what has
been your carriage towards the Lord, compared with the exact
rule of duty, the holy law of God, since the day you have known-
him ?...0, remember Massah, and Tabera^ and Kibroth-hataa-
vah^ and how you have been rebellious against the Lord, ever
since he has taken you in hand to subdue you to himself—
(Read Deut. ix. and see how much your temper has been like
theirs :) — And this notwithstanding all the signs and wonders
God has wrought before your eyes ; — I mean, notwithstanding
all the sweet and awful methods God has taken with you, to
make you know him, and love him, and fear him, and live to him.
There are thousands and thousands wliom God never took any
such special pains with : Their sins are not like yours : Come
down, therefore. ..sit in the dust.. .mourn and weep, and loathe
and abhor yourself, as long as you live ; and ascribe all praise to
God, through v/hose grace alone it is thut)ou are what you are.^

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFF.IT<S. 237

Let me here address you in the words of the famous Mr,
Hooker : — •" That thou-mayest forever, each day that passeth
" over thy head, remember it to the Lord, and leave it upon
"■ record in thine own conscience, say — Hadst thou (blessed
" Lord) given mc the desires of my heart, and left me to my
" own will, it is certain I had been in hell long before this day,
*' when, in the days of my folly and times of mv ignorance—
"when, out of the desperate wretchedness of my rebellious dis-
*' position, I was running riot in the ways of wickedness— "tf/it'Ti
*' I said to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not —
*'to Christians. ..to acquaintance. ..to governors, admonish not,
*' counsel not, reprove not, stop me not in the pursuit of sin.
" The time was, I took holdof deceit, andrejusedto return ; nay,
"resolved in the secret purpose of my heart, Ixvould none of thee
*' — I would not have that word ef thine reveal or remove mjr
*' corruptions — I would none of thy grace that might humble me
*' and purge me, ..none of that mercy of thine that might pardon
" mo... none of that redemption of thine that might save me.
*' Hadst thou then taken me at my word, and given me what I wish-
*'ed,and sealed my destruction, saying, ' Be thou forever iilthy,
"forever stubborn, and forever miserable ; thou wouldst nei-
*Hher be holy nor happy — thou shalt have thy will — sin with
*' devils, and take thy portion with devils'-.,. Lord, it had been
"just with thee, and I justly miserable : But to bear with all my
*' baseness. ..to put up with all those wrongs and provocations...
"to strive with me for my good, when I took up arms ag-iinst
*' thee, and strove against my own good — nay, when I resisted
*' mercy ; and then to take away that resistance, and to cause
*' me to take mercy, and make it mine, when I used all the
"skill I could to hinder my own salvation — Oh! the height....
*'the depth....the length... .the breadth of this mercy! When
**wc feel our hearts to be puffed up with the vain apprehension
*' of our own w^ or th, parts, or performances.. ..what we arc and
*' what we do, look we back to our first beginnings, and judge
*' aright of our own wretchedness and nothingness, yea, worse
*' than nothing, in that we not onlv wanted all good, but we had

238 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

it within us to oppose all good ; and that will cause us to sit
down in silence, abased forever. When empty bladders are
grown unto too great bulk and bigness, to prick them is the
readiest way to lessen them : when our empty and vain
minds swell with high thoughts, and high, over-weening con-
ceit of our own worth, learn we to stab and pierce our hearts
with the righteous judgment of our own natural vileness, which
will (or at least may) let out that frothy haughtiness that lifts
us up beyond our measure : Tell thy heart, and commune
with thy conscience, and say, It is not my good nature, that
I am not roaring amongst the wretches of the world, in the
road and broad way of ruin and destruction — that I am not
wallowing in all manner of sin with the worst of men. It is
not my good nature.. ..no thank to any thing that I have, that
I am not upon the chain with malefactors, or in a dungeon
with witches ; for whatever hell hath, it is in this heart of
mine naturally — a Cain here, a Judas here, nay, a devil here.
The time was, (O that, with an abased heart, I may ever think
of that time) I never looked after the spiritual good of my soul,
or whether I had a soul or no : what would become of me and
it, was the least of my cai;£....the furthest end of my thoughts ;
nay, loth was I to hear of, or know these things — when they
were revealed, unwilling to receive them, or give way to thera
when they were offered : How did I stop mine ears, shut mine
eyes, and harden ray heart ? What ways, means, and devices
did I use and invent, to shut out the light of truth....tostopthc
passage and power of the word, that it might not convince me
— that it might notl-eform me. ...might not recall me from my
evil ways ? How often have I secretly wished that either the
word was taken out of the place, or I from it, that it might not
trouble me in my sinful distempers ; and when I had least
good, I'had most ease, and took the greatest content. Oh,
that such a wretch should thus live, and yet live ! To be thus
sinful ! O that I might be forever abased for it."*

* Mr. HooAi'E.v.''^ Application of Redemption — Vol. I. page 97 — 100.

DlSf INGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 239

Thus the law, as a rule of life, may be improved to the hu-
miliation of the people of God, in that it may serve to keep fresh
in their minds their native universal depravity.. ..their fornler
wickedness — ^nd to discover their remaining sinfulness : And I
mav here observe, that it is believers' yVcf///«r acquaintance w'wh.
the law, in its true meaning, strictness, and purity, that is the
occasion oiihc'ir peculiar acquaintance with their own hearts :
And while the law daily shows them what they are, it learns
them more and more their need of a redeemer and sanctiflcr,
and daily puts them upon going to God, through Jesus Christ,
for pardoning mercy and sanctif) ing grace. The law makes
way for the gospel ; and a sense of sin, weakness, and unwor-
iJiiaess, makes Christ and gospel-grace precious, and stirs up a
man to repentance, faith, and prayer. Deluded, therefore, are
those poor souls that say, '' We must not look into our hearts,
"nor labor after a sense of our sins and sinfulness ; for that is
"legal, and tends to discouragement : but we must look only to
" Christ and free grace, and believe and rejoice, and a senile of
** the love of Christ will humble us :" Just as if the great busi-
ness of Christ was, to keep men from a sight and sense of their
sins ; and just as if a man could be truly humbled, without see-
ing what he is, compared with God and his holy law : But,
poor souls, they feel a legal, discouraged frame always, when
they have any sight and sense of their sinfulness, and it damp*
their faith (and if they were but thoroughly sensible of their sin-
feilness, U would kill their faith) and joy : and, therefore, they
conclude it is not a good way to look into their hearts ; no good
can be got by it. But when they do not mind their hearts, but
look steadily to .Christ and free gi-acc, (u fancied Christ !)
firmly believing that all he has done and suffered is for them,
and reafu'/ing the matter to themselves, now they feel sweetly
and joyfully ; and therefore conclude that this is the way, the
only way, to get good for our souls ; and hence grow mighty
enemies to the law..., to self-examination. ...to sense of sin, &c.
This is the door by which, if any man enters in, he will soon
brcome an Ardinoviian and an Enthuniast, But, to proceed,

H H

240 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Use IV. Of thankfulness. While the law shews us what
we are, it does, at the same time, make us sensible what we de-
serve ; while it discovers to us our sinfulness, it makes us feel
our unworthiness of any good, and desert of all evil : and while
we feel our unworthiness and ill deserts, our afflictions appear
far less than we deserve, and our mercies appear more in num-
ber than the sands, and the kindness and bounty of ovir God ap-
pears exceedingly great, and we wonder at his goodness, and
bless his holy name : And thus the law is of use to promote
thankfulness,

God, the great Governor of the world, in testimony of his
high displeasure against mankind for their apostacy from him,
has spread miseries and calamities all round the earth : from
the king upon the throne to the beggar on the dung-hill, there
is not one but has a greater or lesser share in the troubles of life ;
and many have their days filled up with sorrows. And now
murmurings arise all round this guilty world, and the general
cry is, " Nobody meets with such troubles as I do.... I am very
*' hardly dealt with." But the law teaches us that God is holy in
all these his ways, and righteous in all these his works ; and that
we are all punished far less than we d<;serve ; and so otu: com-
plaints are silenced, and our tiearts quieted into humble submis-
sion, and it appears infinitely fit, a rebellious world should be
full of woe, that we might learn that it is an evil and bitter thing
to foYsake the Lord.

But, at the same time, God, the great Lord of all, out of his
boundless goodness through Jesus Christ, reprieves mankind
from the threatened ruin... .strews common mercies with a libe-
ral hand auround the earth... .sends rain and fruitful seasons,
and fills the hearts of all, more or less, with food and gladness ;
and to some he grants his special grace, makes them his children,
and entitles them to eternal life : And thus he is the Savior of
all men^ but especially of those that believe....!. Tim. iv. 10. Yet
this goodness of God is but little taken notice of in the world.
But the law, while it discovers what we are, and how unworthy
and hell-deserving we are, makes us sensible of the freeness

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 241

and riches of God's grace in these kindnesses : For, while
we feel that hell is- our proper due, every thing that renders our
case better than that of the damned, we shall accept as a choice
mercy, and as an effect of free grace ; and so, instead of being
always in a murmuring and repining disposition, we shall be
always wondering at the goodness, admiring at the kindness of
the Lord ; saying, with good Jacob, U'e are not xvorthy of the
least of all the mercies^ and of all the truth^ which thou hast shoxv-
ed unto thxj servants. ...Gen. xxxii. 10 — and with the Jewish
Church, 0 give thanks unto tlie Lord^ for he is good.. ..for his
viercij endiireth forever. ...^s:\\m cxxxvi. And we shall always
find that the more sensible we are of our unworthiness and ill
desert, the more cause we shall see for thankfulness, let oiu'
outward circumstances in this life be what they will. But,

Use V. In the last place, let all that has been said be im-
proved, by way of exhortation, to excite a7id engage the people of
God more and more to renounce themselves, the world a?id sin,
and give up themselves to God, to love him, and live to him, and
delight in hum, with all their hearts, forever.

You have seen what giounds 5'ouhave to do so, arising from
God's infinite greatness, glory, and excellence ; and you have
been viewing your superadded obligations : And is the Lord
such a God, and is he your God and Redeemer ? Q how strong-
ly are you bound to keep all his commandments ! And what
is it, O believer, that the Lord thy God requireth of thee, but to
fear the Lord thy God, to v^alk in all his ways, and to love him,
and to serve the Lordthy God with all thy heapt, and with all
thy soul ? And is there not, in keeping his commands, a great
reward ? Did you ever taste such sweetness as in a life of de-
votedness to God ? And have not your wanderings from him
cost you many a bitter and mournful hour ? O, how happy
would you be, if once you could come to it, to have done with
every thing else, and to be wholly the Lord's ! Seriously con-
sider these things :

1 . That you can come to it, to have done with every thing else,
and bexuholly the Lord^s, at least inavastly greater degree than

242 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

€ver yet you have.. ..See Phil. Hi. 13, 14. You actually already
have God working in you to rvill and to do....Fhi\. ii. 13. He
has always been, as it were, laboring to humble you, and wean
you from the world, and bring you nearer to himself, to love
him, live to him, and delight in him, ever since the day you
first came to know him, by the outward dispensations of his pro-
vidence, and by the inward strivings of his spirit. He has al-
ways bten purging you, that you mightbring forth viore fruit..,
John XV. 2 : Yea, this v/as the very design of Christ's coming
into the world, that he might deliver you out of the hand^ of all
your enemies., and bring you to nerve God, without fear, in holi^
ness and righteousness^ all the days of your life....L.uke i. 74—
and that he might redeem you from all iniquity^ and purify you
to himself that you might be peculiarly his., and zealous of good
works. ...T'\X.. ii. 14 : And, for this end, God has already taken,
as it were, infinite pains with you, and this is what he is contin-
ually urging you unto, and he declares that he is readier to give
you his holy spirit^ than earthly parents are to give bread to their
children., and invites, and encourages, and commands you to ask
....Mat. vii. 7, &c. And will you not now, therefore, arise,
and put on the whole armour of God, and make your strongest
efforts to recover from sin to God ?

God. the great King of heaven and earth, commands you to
do so — 'Jesus, the kind Mediator, invites you to do so — and the
holy spirit, the Sanctifier, is ready to help you. Arise, there-
fore, and be of good courage, for the Lord is with you. Did
you ever stir up yourself to seek after God in vain, or set about
a life of greater seriousness, watchfulness, and prayer, and find
no advantage by it ? Or have you not always said, in the con-
clusion, that it is good for me to draw near to (7(jc/.... (Psalm
Ixxiii. 28,) and condemned and hated yourself for your former
slackness, and been ready to resolve, from your inmost soul,
that you M-'Ould call upon the Lord as long as you live f^....Psalra
cxvi. 2.

And let me put it to your conscience, do not you believe,
that, if now you would gird up the loins of your mind, and quit

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 243

yourself like a man, and be strong, that, through ChrisCs
^trengtheniixg ofijou^ you may do all things P And shall careless-
ness or stupidity.. ..shall laziness and sloth. ...shall the allure-
ments or the discouragements of the world or the devil, now,
after all, hinder you ? What! when you have been redeemed^
not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Son of
God — when your prison-door is flung open, and your chains
knocked off, and you called and invited to come out into the
glorious liberty of the children ofGod^ and when God is actually
Striving with you already, and stands ready to afford you farther
help, what, now be hindered ! What, and be hindered by care-
lessness, unwatchfulness, &c ! What, shall the Savior groan
in the garden, and die on the cross, and yet you lie sleeping
here ! What, asleep ! What, content without God in the world !
What, when the whole army of prophets, apostles, and martyrs
have fasted and prayed all their days, and waded through a sea
of blood at last ! Methinks j^ou had better abandon every mov-
taX ditW^i^ lay aside every weight and the sin that more easily
besets you^ and mourn, and weep, and watch, and pray, and fight,
and strive, as long as you live, than act so far beneath the dig-
nity and character of a christian.

\t is but a few in the world that truly know God, and the
way of access to him, through Jesus Christ, and are in a (spir-
itual) capacity to live a life of devotedness to God, and commu-
nion with him : most men a:e dead in sin : But you hath he
quickened^ and you are his workmanships created in Christ jfesus
unto good works ; and it is God's design you should xvali in
ihera : you that were without Christ, and without God in the
world, afar off,are iioxv brought nigh ; and you are no more stran-
gers and foreigners^ but fellow-citizens with the saints and
(f the household of God : for this cause I therefore beseech
you, walk worthy of the vocation wheravith you are ccdled :
See this argument enlarged upon in the second, third, and
fourth chapters of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and )our
duties still more particularly dehneated in the fifth and
sixth.

244 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

2. Consider, that as xjour case is circumstanced^ it is abso-
lutely impossible for you ever to find any other resting place but
God, or ever take any satisfyijig comfort of your life^ but in a way
ef devotedness to God and communion xviih him. The case is
not v/ith you, O believer, as it is with other men. — Tou^ only^
have Iknoxvn of all the families of the earth ; therefore will I
pwiish you for all your iniquities, said God to his ancient peo-
ple.... i>//c. iii. 2. But the other nations of the earth might wor-
ship idols, and serve wood and stone, and go on and prQsper,
without being called to a present account ; and so it is as to
particular persons : Eastai^ds, who have no parents to own them
and bring them up, may, as for any restraints from parental au-
thority, do what they will : They that do not belong to God's
family, may live from home as long as they please, and, because
they have no interest in his house, may, in respect of divine
permission, go and live where they please. ...may continue to
lie out from God : hut whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth ; and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.^...Hth. xii. 6. Hypo-
crites may lose their religion, and lie dead whole months and
years together, and return, with the dog to his vomit, and take
as much comfort in the world and their lusts as ever ; but it is
impossible that you should : you can never get your conscience
asleep as other men's are, or your heart content to lie out from
God, or wring yourself out of your father's hand, or get out of
the reach of his rod.

Solomon once seemed resolved to find another restingplace
for his heart besides God, and sonoething else to take comfort
in, and he was under the best outward advantages to make a
thorough trial that ever man was ; but he never did, and never
could : but was ahvays like a bone out of joint, or like the nee-i
die of a compass turned aside from its beloved star. Vanity of
^vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity and vexation of spirit :
And poor David, how was he pained with anguish of spirit for
the sin whereby he provoked the Lord ? Psalm xxxli. 3, Sec...
While I kept silence, (i. e. before Nathan- came, who brought me
to an open confession — see ver. 5.) my bones waxed old Lhrough

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 245

my roaring all the day long : For day and nig/it thy hand was
heavy upon me : My moisture is turned into the drought ofsum-
mer : And never did a believer depart from God to seek anoth-
er resting place, or go away from the fountain of living waters
to get something else to take comfort in ; but God hedged up
his way xvith thorns.^ and made a wall^ iliat he could not find his
paths : So that, although he followed after his lovers^ he never
overtook them — and though he sought them Jie never found them ;
but, at last, has been constrained to say, I will go and return to

vxy first husband ; for tJien was it better with me than now

Hos. ii. 6, 7. His backslidings have reproved him^ and his xvick'
edness has corrected him^ and made him know^ to the breaking
of his heart, that it is an evil and bitter thing to forsake the Lord
....Jer. ii. 19 : For as God thus dealt widi the Jewish church
of old, so he does with every believer ; for all God's dealings
with them were for ensamples ; and they are written for our ad-
monition,uponwhom theends of the world are come... I. Cor. x. 11.
And this now being the case, O believer, and you having al-
ways by your own experience found it so, will you, notwitli-
Standing, forsake the Lord ? What fault.. ..w/?Grf iniquity do you
fnd in God, that you should forsake him ? Has he been a wil-
derness unto you, or a land of darkness ? Or has he not been
your father, ever since the day he took you by the hand to lead
you, even ever sip.ce the day you first knew hira ? Or are you
weary of lightsome, of sweet and happy days, and impatient to
plunge yourself into darkness, distress, and anguish ? May you
not expect, if you forsake him and go away from him, to seek
another resting-place, and something else to take comfoi't in as
your portion, \ lat he will strip you naked as i7i the day that you
was born, and make you desolate, and a tenor to yourself, and
that his anger will smoke against you, and his hand lie heavy
upon you ? And then will you incur n like the dove in the valley y
and be troubled^ and go bowed dorvn greatly, and roar by reason
•fthe disqiuetness of your heart, and wish a thousand and thous-
and times that you had never forsaken the Lord.... Read Psalm
xxxviii. — Jcr. 2d and 3d Chapters — and Hos. ii. Will you

246 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

not, therefore, bid adieu to all other lords and lovers, and cleav«
unto the Lord with all your heart forever ? for this is your wis-
dom, and this is your life : Which brings me to add.

Consider, if you will have done with every thing else, and
give up yourself to the Lord, to love him, and live to him, and
be wholly his, then God will be i^cur God sensibly^ atid you will^
in spiritual respects J^e one of the happiest creatures in this world —
a hundred times happier than you could possibly be in the ways
of sin ; you shall have an hundred fold in this present world ^ bC"
sides eternal life ifi the world to come. If any man love jyie, says
Christ, and keep my commandtnents^ I will love him and manifest
myself unto him : and / and my father will co-nxe and make our
abode -with /izm....John xiv. 21, 23. He that dwelleth in these"
cret place of the most High, shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. ...Psaim:^ci. 1 : And God will be your f/we/Zin^-^/ace
forever... .Ps^lm xc. 1. While the nations dash themselves in
pieces, and all the world is in confusion, and while you pas*
through the fire and through the water, God will be with you —
and he will always be your light, life, peace, joy, glory, and
blessedness, in this undone, dreadful world — and your heart
will be firm and fixed like Mount Zion, that cannot be removed,
but abideth forever — and nothing shall ever separate you from
the love ofGod^ neither things present, nor things to come^ nor
height, nor depth, nor life, nor death, nor any other thing : And
God will certainly give you every thing in this world that is best
for you, and most for his glory, and you will not desire any more ;
and all the evil things you may pass through will sensibly work
together for your ^ood.... Mat, y'u 33 — Ro7n. viii. 28 — 39—
Psalm Ixxiii. 25, 26.

And thus you have, by experience, always found that GoU
has dealt with you. I appeal, O believer, to your own con-
science, that thus it has always been, whenever you have sensi-
bly from the heart renounced all other things, and given up
yourself to the Lord, to love him, and to live to him, and to take
content in him, God has sensibly been a God, and father, and
portion unto you, and has given you all things, which (every

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 247

thing considered) you could desire, and sensibly made all things
M'ork together for your good ; whence you have been many a
time ready to say, That not a word of all his pj-omises has ever
Ja'ilen to the ground: And you have actually enjoyed a hundred
times more comfort in the service of God.. ..in dcvotedness to
God, and communion with him, than could have been had in
the service of sin : And will you not now, therefore, be entire-
ly and forever the Lord's ? O how happy you might be ! And
what blessed days you might enjoy !

4. And that which cannot but touch a filial heart, consider,
that if you will thus be wholly the Lord's, to love him, and live
to him, and delight in him, and to do his will, God will he glo-
rified thereby. ...it will be to his honor in the 7ror/t/....Johnxv. 8.
Herein is my Father glorijied^ that ye bear much fruit : But i/e
are a chosen ge?ieration^ a royal priesthood^ a holy nation^ a pe-
culiar people ; that ye should shoxv forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. ...I. Pet.
ii. 9. God has but few friends in the world. Many that pre-
tend to be his friends, are a great dishonor to him, and disgrace
to religion : By their means his name is blasphemed, and his
ways are evilly spoken of ; and, in general, his honor is every
where trodden down in the dust. And can you stand by un-
concerned ?...yea, can you look on without your heart bleeding
within you ? O, therefore, be serious.. .be humble. ..be meek, ho-
ly, and heavenly. ..be peace-makers, and merciful. ..be kind aiid
tender-hearted, condescending and obliging, and abound in ev-
ery good work ; for you are the salt of the earth, and the light
of the world : O, therefore, live so, as that your Father, wlu>:h
is in heaven, Tfiay be glori fed.... ^Int, v. 13 — 16.

To conclude, will you not now, therefore, determine, from
this day forward, to be wholly the I-.ord's,and from this day be-
gin to live to God in better earnest than ever ? God is ready to
help you. You will, as to present comfort, be undone, if
you do not live to God ; and peace, and glory, and blessed-
ness is before you, if you do ; and God, even your God, will
be glorified ; And if vou are now readv, by the grace of

I I

248. TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

God, to hearken unto this advice, then take these tAvo direc-
tions : —

1 . Lay aside every rveight^ mid thi: sins which more easily he-
set z/i5u..,.Heb. xii. 1. In a serious and sweet hour, when you
get alone, and mourn, and pray, and give up yourself to God,
and think and resolve you will now be forever the Lord's, you
are wont, upon self-examination, and a resiew of past times, to
see and say, " This, that, and the other thing, has been the sin-
*' lul occasion, time after time, of my losing a serious, gracious
" frame of heart — and by such and such sinful means I have
" gradually lost a sense of divine and eternal things, and so have
" wandered from God, and laid a foundation for darkness and
*' sorrow. O my carelessness ! O that I had prayed more in
*' secret ! O that I had spent precious time better. Sec. &c."—
These now are the weights, and these the sins which easily be-
set you — and these you must lay aside forever, if you design t©
be the Lord's indeed, and to make a business of religion to pur-
pose : But perhaps you will say, ^' My worldly business. ...my
" necessary cares, and the common duties of life, are sometimes
*' the very things, and these I ought not to lay aside ; and what
" shall I do in this case ?" — I ansxvcr^ that, at another time,
the necessary cares, business, and duties of life, you find to be
no hinderances at r.ll — even at such times when you do all out of
love to God, and for God, with singleness of heart. If you
will, therefore, but always go about the common duties of life
in such a manner, they will never be any clog to you. What
you have, therefore, to do in the case, is not to lay aside that
which is your duty, but to lav aside yoLu: wrong ends and aims :
and thus you must lay aside every weight : But,

2. If you design to be religious in good earnest, then be care-
ful to use all proper yneans^ and do every proper thing that has a
tendency to promote your spiritual life: Every proper thing, I
sav, to guard against those anti-scriptural methods which enthu-
siasts are wont to take, and by which, above all things, their
false affections are promoted, but v/hich have a direct tendency
to kill the di'Nine life. In a serious hour of sweet retirement,

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 249

and in happy davs when you are nearest to God, and enjoy most
communion with hhn, and have your senses most accurate to
discern between good and evil, you are wont to see and say —
" O how blessed I might be, if I did always keep in this narrow
*' way v.'hich now lies open plain before me — if I were always
*' serious, watchful, prayerful. ...always reading, or meditating,
** and looking to God, and keeping my heart, and improving ev'-
" try precious mom^ nt of my time wisely for God," &c. —
Well, well, O Deliever, this is the way — walk in it, and yon shall
be ake a tree planted by the rivers cfivater^ that bringeth forth
his fruit in his season^ ivhose leaf never withers; and whatsoever
you do shall prosper : And, after a few more days, and weeks,
and months, and years spent in prayer, and faith, and holiness,
in this \ our pilgrimage state, you shall come and sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacdi, in the kingdom of God, and dwell
forever with the Lord. Amen.

Now^ the God of peace ^ that brought again from the dead our
Lord fesiis^ that great Shepherd of the sheep^ through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every goodwork^
to do his xvill^ xvorking in ijou that xvhich is well pleasing in his
sight^ through fesus Christ : to ivhom he glory forever and
ever. Amen.

Crue Eeltgtan DelincateH*

DISCOURSE II.

SHEWING THE NATURE OF THE GOSPEL, AND Of A GENUINE
COMPLIANCE WITH IT.

JOHN III. 16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that lubosoever
be ieveth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

THE INTRODUCTION.

-I HE grand question before us, is, What is true religion 7
And this is the general answer — It consists in a real conformity
to the law^ and in a genuine compliance zvith the gospel. What
is implied in a real conformity to the law, has been already shown
in the former discourse ; and we come now to consider where-
in a genuine compliance with the gospel does consist. From
our Savior's mouth we had before a brief summary of the law ;
and now, from our Savior's mouth, we have a brief summary of
the gospel, in these comprehensive words, God so loved the
world, &c.

Nicodemus came to him for instruction, believing him to be
a teacher sent from God. Our Savior begins immediately to
inculcate upon him the necessity oi regeneration and faith. —
We are sinners. ...are naturally (/tWm 67 n — and, therefore, must
be bom again.. ..he recovered to the divine image in the temper
of our minds, and so be made spiritually alive : We are guil-
ty....we need pardoning mercy at the hands of the great Gov-
ernor of the world ; but he will gi-ant it only through the JIc'
diator he has appointed : in him, therefore, must we believe —
on his merits and mediation must we depend. Nicodemus

252 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

could hardly understand the doctrine of the new birth ; and our
Savior intimates that the mysteries of our redemption, by the
blood of Christ, were like to be still more difficult to him : We
can easily understand worldly things, for they are agreeable to
the temper of our minds, and suit the taste and relish of our
hearts; but we are blind to things spiritual and divine.. ..are
slow of heart to understand them, they not suiting the temper
and relish of our hearts, and we being in a disposition to dis-
relish things of such a nature : therefgre, our Savior observes
to Nicodemus, (ver. 19.) This is the vo)idnnnation, that light
is come into the xDorhi^ but men love darkness rather than lighty
because their deeds are evil. We are in a state of rebellion. ...at en-
mit}' against God, and under his wrath ; and yet ready, through
our darkness, to flatter ourselves that all is well — and so are se-
cure and at ease. Light is come into the world, discovering
our disease and our remedy, but we love our disease, and loathe
the remedy ; and, therefore, hate the light, and will not come
to it : And thus our Savior teaches Nicodemus M-herein true
religion consists, and points out the aversion of mankind to
it : Nor is there any thing that will discover ouv aversion so
plainly as to set true religion in its own light ; for when we see
clearly what it is, we may perceive how w^e stand affected to-
wards it ; but otherwise we may be easily mistaken — may ima-
gine that we love true religion, when, indeed, we only love the
false image we have framed in our own fancy. Regeneration
nxidfaithy these two great essentials, wherein all religion radi-
cally consists, are the things our Savior inculcates upon his new
disciple. Christ loved to lay the foundation well ; He was not
fond of converts, unless their conversion was sound : And, in-
deed, all our religion is good for nothing, if our nature be not
renewed : and all our communion with God is but fancy, if we
are strangers to Christ ; ior he is the wai/^the truth^and the lije^
and no man comes to the Father but by him. But to proceed to
the words of the text, God so loved the xvorld, &c.

God — i. e. God the Father, the first person in the ever-
blessed trinity, who sustains the dignity and majesty of God-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 253

head, and is eminently Lord of h^oveyi and earthy (Mat- xi. 25-)
and prime agent in the works of creation and providence, ...in
governing the world.. ..in redeeming, sanctifying, and saving
of sinners. .../^om. xi. 36. That there are three persons in the
God-head. ...the Father, the Son, and the Holy-Ghost, and that
these three are one God, the scriptv\res do abundantly teach....
{3Iat. xxviii. 19 — II. Cor. xili. 13 — I. J'ohnv. 7.) And this
doctrine we must believe, or we cannot understand the gorpel.
Hoxv they ai-e t/irec, and /w~u they are one, is not revealed, nor
is it necessary for us to know,: but that there are three persons
in the God-head, and yet but oiie God, we must believe ; and
what characters they sustain, and what parts they act in the
affair of our salvation, we must understand. The gospel rep-
resents God ihc Father as sovereign Lord of heaven and eartli
....as righteous Governor of the world.. ..as giving laws to his
creatures... .as revealing his wrath against all transgressions :
He is represented as being injured and offended by our sins,
and conceri'ied to maintain the honor of his majestv....of his
law and government, and sacred authority : He is represented
as having designs of mercy towards a sinful, guilty, ruined
world ; and as contriving and proposing a method of recovery ;
He is represented as one seated on a throne of grace, reconcilca-
ble through Jesus Christ, and seeking to reconcile the world
to himself by Christ, ordering pardon and peace to be proclaim-
ed through a guilty world, to any and all who will return to
him in the way prescribed. The gospel represents G^^f^Ai? Son
as beicg constituted Mediator by his Father, that, in and by
him, he might open a way to xiccomplish his designs of mercy
towards a guilty world, consistent with the honor of h.is niajesty
....of his holiness and justice. ...of his law and government.
His Father appoined him to the ol^ce, and he freelv undertook
it : His Father sent him into this world to enter upon the dif-
ficult work, and he wiUingly came, JIc ivas made fesh^ and
dwelt (imong lis : Here he: lived, aiul here he died, in the capa-
city of a Mediator. He arose. ...he ascended into heaven, and
aits now at his Father's right hand, God-^Ian ?dediator, exalt-

254 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ed to the highest honor — made Lord of all things, and Judge
of the world. And now we are to have access to God by him,
as our Mediator, high Priest, Intercessor, and Advocate, who
has made complete atonement for sins in the days of his abase-
ment, and has now sufficient interest in the court of heaven.
The gospel represents God the Holy-Ghost as being sent of the
Father as prime agent, and by the Son as Mediator, in the
character of an enlightener and sanctifier, in order to bring
sinners effectually to see and be sensible of their sin, guilt, and
ruin. ...to believe the gospel. ...to trust in Christ, and to return
home to God through him : And it is his office to dwell in be-
lievers....to teach and lead them. ...to sanctify, quicken, strength-
en, and comfort them, and to keep them through faith unto
salvation. The Father is God by nature, and God by office :
The Son is God by nature, and Mediator by office : The Spirit
is God by nature, and Sanctifier by office. The Father^ as
Governor, Law-giver, Judge, and Avenger, has all power in
heaven and earth, in and of himself.... Jia^. xi. 25. The Son,
as Mediator, derives all his authority from the Father..,. il/a^
xi. 27. The Holy Spirit acts as being sent by them both...,
by the Father^ as supreme Governor, dealing with a sinful,
guilty world, through a Mediator — by the Son, as Mediator,
negociating a reconciliation between God and man....yoAn xiv.
16. The Father maintains the honor of the God-head, and of
his government, and displays his grace, while he ordains that
sin shall be punished, the sinner humbled, and brought back to
God, and into a subjection to his will, and in that way be par-
doned, and finally saved. Sin is punished, in the So7i, as Me-
diator, standing in the room of the guilty : And the sinner is
humbled, brought back to God, and into a subjection to his
will, by the Holy Spirit ; and, in this way, is pardoned and
saved : And thus the Son and the Spirit honor the Father, as
supreme Governor, and all join in the same design to discoun-
tenance sin, humble the sinner, and glorify grace. — Thus far
briefly of the doctrine of the trinit)'. Right apprehensions of
Cod help us to understand the law, and right apprehensions of

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 255

the trinity, will help us to Understand the gospel : Not how they
are three persons, and yet but one God, the manner of which
is not needful to be known ; but the offices and characters they
sustain, and the different paits they act in the great affair of
saving sinners. God (says the text) so loved the world^ that he
gave his onhj begotten Son ; that whosoever helieveth in liiniy
should not perish^ but have everlasting life : i. e. God the Father,
the great Governor of the world, whom we had offended by sin,

So LOVED the xvorld — i. e. with a love of benevolence. Es-
teem us he could not ; for we were worthless and vile : To de-
light in us it was impossible ; for we were altogether odious
and abominable. But to have a good will towards us, or a
will to do us good, this he might have, although we were sinful
and guilty : Not, indeed, from any motive in us ; for if we
were viewed, and our temper and circumstances considered,
there was not to be seen one motive to pity, no, not the least \
but every motive to indignation and wrath. However, from
motives within himself, he might will to do us good, notwith-
standing our sin and guilt. The self-moving goodness of his
nature did excite him, from the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, to design mercy towards a sin-
ful, guilty, ruined world. God so loved the world.

The -WORLD — i. e. all mankind. ...all the posterity of Adam:
For what follows, is evidently true, of every individual ; — That
he gave his only begotten Son, that xvhosoever believes in him^
should not perish, but have everlasting life.

So loved — i. e. so inconceivably.. ..so unspeakably,

That he GAVE his only begotten Son — i. e. of his mere, pure
goodness, constituted him to be a Mediator.. ..appointed him
to be a Redeemer and Sa\ ior, to make atonement for sin, and
purchase divine favors, and so to open a way for sinners to re-
turn to God with safety, and for God to show mercy to them
with honor. God so loved the rvorld, i. e. all the race of Adam,
that he gave his only begotten Son, immediately upon the apos-
tacy of mankind ; for then was this seed of the woman promised,

(Geji. iii. 15) that all, being, i^?/ nature-, children ofxurath,vci\^ht

k K

256 TRUE RELrGlON DELINEATED, AND .

be prevented by divine goodness. God saw all involved in
sin, and guilt, and ruin, by Adam's first sin : And so he provi-
ded a Savior for all ; that whosoever believes in him, should not
perish, but have everlasting life.

Should not PERISH. — He viewed all mankind as sinful and
guilty... .lost, undone, and perishing, i. e. exposed to the wrath
of God, and curse of the law.. ..to all the miseries of this life.. ..to
death itself, and to the pains of hell forever : And he gave hia
only begotten Son to be a Savior ;

That whosoever believeth in him — i, e. that ventures upon
his atonement.. ..his worth and merits. ...his mediation and in-
tercession, for divine acceptance ; so as to be thence embold-
ened to return home to God, upon the invitation of the gospel.
That all such should not perish — but

Have EVERLASTING LIFE — i. e. the everlasting in-dwelling
of the holy spirit, as a sanctifier and comforter, to be a never-
failing spring of a new, a spiritual and divine life — everlasting
union and communion with Christ, and the everlasting favor
and enjoyment of God through him.

Thus we have, in these words, a brief view of the glorious
gospel of the blessed God. And from them we may learn, (1 .)
I'hat God, the great Governor of the world, considered man-
kind as being in ?l perishing condition, i. e. sinful, guilty, justly
condemned, helpless, and undone. (2.) That it was merely
from 7notives tvithin himself, that he has done what he has for
their recovery out of this state. (3.) That he has constituted
his So7i a Mediator, Redeemer, and Savior, that through him
sinners might be saved, (4.) That he has appointed faith in
Christ, to be the condition of salvation. Here, therefore, I
will endeavor to show,

I. Upon what grounds it was, that God, the great Governor
of the world, did consider mankind as being in a. perishing con-
dition, i. e. sinful, guilty, justly condemned, helpless, and un-
done.

II. What were the motives which excited him to do what he
has done for their rccoverif.

DISTINGUISHED JROM ALL COUMT£R¥EITS. 257

III. "What necessity there was of a Mediator and Redeemer,
and how the way to life. has been opened by him whom God
has provided.

IV. What is the true nature of sav'mg faith in him : And
so, by the whole, to explain the nature of the gospel, and of a
genuine compliance therewith : And in the last place,

V. Will consider the promise of everlasting life to those who
believe.

SECTION I.
SHOWING THE REASONS WHY GOD DOES, IN THE GOSPEL, CON-
SIDER MANKIND AS BEING IN A PERISHING CONDITION.

I. I am to show upon zvhat grounds it ivas, that God, L'le
great Governor of the world, did consider mankind as being in a
perishing condition, i. e. sinful, guilty, justly condemned, help-
less and undone. That he did consider mankind as being in
a perishing condition, is evident, because he gave his only be-
gotten Son, that they might not perish who should believe in
him. If we were not in a perishing condition, his giving his
Son to save us from perdition, had been needless : and his pre-
tending great love and kindness in doing so, had been
to affront us — to make as if we were undone creatures,
when we were not ; and as if we were much beholden to him
for his goodness, when we could have done well enough widi-
out it : And the more he pretends of his great love and kind-
ness, the greater must the affront l)e. So that, hov/ever we
look upon ourselves, it is certain that God, who sees all things
as being what they are, did actually look upon us as in a perish-
ing, lost, undone condition : And if he considered us as being
in such a condition, it must have been because he looked upon
us as sinful, guilty, justly condemned, and altogether helpless ;
for otherwise we were not in a perishing condition. If we
could hav^c helped ourselves a little, we should not have need-
ed one to save us, but only to help us to save ourselves : but
our salvation, in scripture, is always attributed wholly ta God j
and God every where takes all the glory to himself, as though,
in very deed, he had deserved it all.... (ZTy;/;. i. C — G, and ii. 1

258 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

— .r9) ; SO that it is certain, God did look upon mankind as be-
ing in a perishing condition, sinful, guilty, justly condemned,
and altogether helpless : and, considering us in such a condition,
he entered upon his designsof mercy and grace ; and therefore
he every where magnifies his love, and looks upon us as infi-
nitely beholden to him, and under infinite obligations to ascribe
to him all the glory and praise, even quite all : That no flesh
should glory in his presence — but he that glorieth^ let him glory
in the Lord....l. Cor. i. 29, 31,

It is of great importance, therefore, that we come to look up-
on oui"selves as being in such a perishing condition too ; for
o'Jierwise it is impossible we should ever be in a disposition
thankfully to accept gospel-grace, as it is offered unto us. We
shall rather be offended, as thinking the gospel casts reproach
upon human nature, in supposing us to be in such a forlorn con-
dition as to stand in a perishing need of having so much done
for us ; — as the Jews of old scorned it, when Christ told them,
If they tvould become his disciples^ they should knoxv the truthy
and the truth should make them free. They took it as an affront,
and were ready to say, " What ! Just as if we were in bon-
** dage ! Indeed, no. We were never in bondage to any man:
" We have Abraham to our father, and God is our Father ; but
"thou hast a devil".. .. ycA;: viii. 31 — 48. They would not
understand him. ...they were all in a rage : And so it is like to
be with us, with regard to the methods which God has taken
with us in the gospel, unless we look upon ourselves as he does
....so wretched and miserable.. ..so poor, blind, and naked. ...so
helpless, lost, and undone. It is the want of this self-acquain-
tance, together with a fond notion of our being in a much bet-
ter case than we are, that raises such a mightj^ cry against the
doctrines of grace, through a proud, impenitent, guilty world.

And since God does thus look upon us to be in such a perishing
condition, and upon this supposition enters on his designs of
mercy and grace, here now, therefore, does the question recur,
Upon xvhat grounds is it that he considers us as beijig in such a
perishing condition .^....Grounds he must have,and good grounds

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 259

too, or he would never thus look upon us. If we may rightly
understand what they are, perhaps we may come to look upon
ourselves as he does ; and then the giace of the gospel will be-
gin to appear to us in the same light it does to him The

grounds, then, are as follow :

1. God, the great Governor of the world, does, in the gos-
pel, consider mankind as being guilty of Adam^s first sin^ and,
on that account, to be in a perishing condition. In Adam all
dicd^ (I. Cor. XV. 22) ; but death is thetuages of sin ^ (Rom. vi.
23) : therefore, in Adam all sinned ; for by one man sin enter-
ed into thewijrld^ and death by sin; a?id so death passed upon all
?nen,for that all liccoc sinned^ i. e. sinned in AcUmi....(Rom. v.
12) ; for (ver. 19.) by one mail's disobedience many xvere made
sinners : And, accordingly, Z*// //(^ offence of one^ judgment came
upon all men to condemnation : and hence all are, by ?iature,
children of wrath. ..,(E.^h. ii. 3.)

Obj. But hoxv can xve be guilty of Adam^s first sin ? It ivas
he committed it y and not xa^e : and that without our consent^ and
along time before we were born.

Ans. Adam, by divine appointment, stood and acted as our
public head : He stood a representative in the room of all his
posterity ; and, accordingly, acted not only for himself, but for
them. His sustaining this character rendered him a type of
Christ, the second Adam^ who has laid down his life in the room
and stead of sinners : And his being spoken of in scripture as
a type of Christ, with respect to this character of a public head,
proves that he did actually sustain such a character.. ..(Rom v.
14) : And, therefore, as, by the obedience of Christy many
are made righteous ; so, by the disobedience of Adam, many
are made sinners — (ver 19,) i. e. by the imputation of Christ's
obedience, believers become legally righteous — righteous in
the sight of God, by virtue of an established constitution ; and
so have the reward of eternal life : So, by tiie imputatioii of
Adam's first sin, his posterity, by ordinary generation, became
legally sinners — sinners in the sight of God, by virtue of an es-
tablished constitution, and so are exposed to the punishment of

250 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

eternal death, the proper wages of sin. Now, it is true, w«

did not PERSONALLY rise in rebellion against God in that first
transgression, but he who did do it was otir representative. —
We are members of the community he acted for, and God con-
siders us as such ; and, therefore, looks upon us as being legally
guilty, and liable to be dealt with accordingly — and so, on this
account, in a perishing condition : But, perhaps, some will still be
ready to say, " And where is the justice of all this ?" Methinks
the following considerations, if we will be disinterestedly im-
partial, may set the matter in a satisfying light :

(1 .) That the original constitution made with Adam^ as to hint'
self personally considered., was holy, just, and good.

(2.) That if all his posterity had been put under the same con-
stitution, one by one, from age to age, as they came into bei^ig, to
act for themselves, it had also been holy, just, and good.

(3.) That it zuas, in the nature of the thing, in all respects, as
zuellfor our interest, that Adam should be made our public head
and representative, to act ?iot only for himself, but for all hispos-
terity, as that we should each stand and act for himself singly j
and, in some respects, better.

(4.) That, in such a case, God, as supreme Lord and sovereign
Governor of the whole world, had full power and rightful author-
ity to constitute Adam our common head and public representa"
five, to act in our behalf. — Let us, therefore, distinctly consider
these particulars :

(1.) It is to be noted, the original constitution made with Ad"
am, (Gen. ii. 1 T.) as to himsef personally considered, was holy,
just, and good, as will appear if we consider the circumstances
he was under, antecedent to that constitution or covenant : For,

In the first place, antecedent to that covenant-transaction, he
was under infinite obligations, from the reason and nature of
things, to love God with all his heart, and obey him in every
thing. From the infinite excellence and beauty of the divine
nature, and from God's original, entire right to him, as his crea-
ture, and absolute authority over hirn, as his subject, did his in-
finite obligation so to do necessarily arise. It was fit.. ..it was

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFKITS. 261

infinitely fit and right that he should look upon the infinitely
glorious God, his Maker and Governor, as being what he was,
and as having such a right to him, and authority over him, as he
had, and that he should be affected 2iX\(i act ac.cordinghj, antece-
denttothe consideration of any covenant-transaction : And, no
doubt, this was actually the case with him before that covenant
was made ; for he was created in thewiage ofGod^ (Gen. i. 27.)
And so his heart was full of a sense of his glory, and of ad-
miring and adoring thoughts : He felt that he was not his ovvn,
but the Lord's — ^and he loved him, and was entirely devoted to
him, in the temper of his mind, conscious of the infinire obliga-
tions he was under thereto. And farther, it is certain that God
was the sole Lord and owner of this lower world, and
all things in it ; and that Adam had no right to any thing but
by a divine grant : And it is certain it was fit that Adam
should be put into ix state of trial, and that God had authority
to do it.

And now, since he was naturally under such infinite obliga-
tions to love and obey God, his Maker.. ..God, the supreme Lord
and sovereign Governor of all things — since he had no right
to any of the trees of the garden, but by the free grant of God ;
and since it was fit he should be put into a state of trial, and
God had authority to do it : since these things were so, it is ev-
ident that constitution was HOLY — In the day thou catest thereof
thou shalt surehj die. God had a right to make such a law, for
Adam was his, and all the trees in the garden were his, and he
was, by nature, God, supreme Lord and sovereign Gov-
ernor of the whole world, and it was fitting he should act as
such — and it was infinitely fit that Adam should have a sr.crcd
regard to his authority in all things, because he xvas such — and
that his eternal welfare should lie at stake, and be suspended
upon his good behavior : And, no doubt, Adamviev/edihings
thus, and vv as thoroughly sensible that God had a rl^^ht to pro-
hibit that tree upon pain of death, and that he was under infi-
nite obligations to have a most sacred regard to his wiil in :hat
matter. — Thus that constitution was li'iaj.

£62 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

And if we consider, in the next pkice^ that, as has been ob-
served, Adam was under infinite obligations to love God, his
Maker, with all his heart, and obey him in every thing, result-
ing from the verj^ reason and nature of things, it will appear
that the threatening was just ; and no more than what he must
have expected, had he falkn into any sin whatsoever, antece-
dent to any constitution at all. Adam, in a state oi pure nature^
I. e. prior to any covenant-transaction^ was under infinite obli-
gations to perfect love and perfect obedience ; the least defect,
therefore, must have been infinitely sinful ; and so, by conse-
quence, must have deserved an infinite punishment : And it
was meet that God, the Governor of the wovld, should punish
sin according to its real desert : in the nature of things it was
meet, antecedent to any express declaration of his design to do
so ; and Adam knew all this : He knew what obligations he
tvas under to God, to leve him Avith all his heart, and obey him
in every thing ; and, by consequence, he was conscious to him-
self that the least defect would be an infinite evil, and so would
deserve an infiniie punishment ; and he knew that it was the
nature of God to render to every one according to liis deserts :
he was certain, therefore, from the reason and nature of things,
antecedent to that threatening, that the least sin would expose
him to an infinite punishment. From this view of the case, it
is plain, that that threatening was just, and Adam did most
perfectly approve of it as such. It was no more than it was rea-
sonable for Adam to expect, and meet for God to inflict, for
any transgression ef the law of nature : And it was against
the lav/ of nature for Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, when
once God had said he should not. It was practically denying
God's supremacy.... .casting off his authority, and actu-
ally setting up his will against the Lord's. If any sin, there-
fore, deserved an infinite punishment, surely that did.

Remark. And here, by the way, from this view of the case,
we mav gain a certain knowledge of what God meant by Thou
shalt sureli/ die ; or, as it is in the original, In dyi7ig thou shaJt
die ; and may be certain how Adam understood it. He did

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 2G3

not mean that Adam should be annihilated i for such a punish-
ment was not equal to the crime : He might, without injustice,
have annihilated Adam, had he remained innocent ; for he that
gives Being, of his mere good pleasure, may, of his mere good
pleasure, take it away again : nor could Adam have brought
God into debt by a thousand years' perfect obedience ; for he
owed himself, and all he could do, to God his Maker.. ../?£>m. xi.
35. God meant to punish Adam according to his deserts ;
but annihilation would not have been such a punishment : and
therefore it is certain that this was not what God meant. Adam
knew that sin was an infinite evil, and so deserved an infinite
punishment, and that it was meet it should be punished accor-
ding to its deserts, and that it was the nature of God to do so ;
but annihilation was not such a punishment, and Adam could
not but know it : and therefore Adam eould not understand
death in this sense, God meant to punish Adam according to
his deserts. And what did he deserve ? Why, an infinite pun-
ishment ; i. e. to have all good taken away, and all kinds of evil
come upon h'lm forever. Well, what good had Adam in pos-
session ? Why, he had a natural life., resulting from the union
of his soul and body, with all the delights and sweetnesses
thereof ; and he had a spiritual life, resulting from the gracious
influences of the holy spirit, and consisting of the image of God,
and sense of his love, with all the delights and sweetnesses
thereof ; and he was formed for immortality, and so was in a
capacity of eternal life and blessedness, in glorifying God, and
enjoying him : Here, therefore, he was capable of a natural^ a
spiritualy and an eternal death — to have soul and body rent
asunder forever — to be forsaken by the spirit of God, and given
up to the power of sin and satan forever, and to have God Al-
mighty become his everlasting enemy. All this he deserved ;
and therefore God meant all this : All this he knew he should
deserve ; and therefore he could not but understand the threat-
ening to comprehend all this. Besides, that which makes it
still more certain, that this was the meaning of that first threat-
ening, is, that God has since vcit expressly threatened eternal

h i

264 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

deathsis the wages of the least sin. ...Rom. i. 18 — GaLiW. 10 —
Mat. XXV. 46 ; (and the word death itself is plainly used to
signify eternal deathand misevy.... Rom. vi. 23 — Rojn.v'iii. 13);
So that either now he means to punish sin more than it de-
serves, or he intended t/im to punish sin less than it deserved;
or else eter7ial death was what he always meant, by threatening
death as the wages of sin. If he means to punish sin nozu more
than he did the?iy it is too much noiu^ or not enough f/zen ; both
which are equally contrary to the reason and nature of things,
and equally inconsistent with the impartial justice of the divine
nature, which always inclines him to render to everyone accor-
ding to his deserts. ...normore, nor less: and therefore e?erwa/
death was intended in that first threatening : But this by the
way.

And, lastly^ as that constitution was holy and just,«o also it
was good ; because it put Adam (personally considered) under
better circumstances than he was before : For, while in a state
of pure nature, perfect obedience could not have given him any
title to eternal life ; but, as was said before, God might have
annihilated him at pleasure, after a hundred, or a thousand, or
ten thousand years, without any injustice to him..*.(yo^ xxii. 2
— Rom. xi. '33.) But now, under this constitution, he had an
assurance of eternal life upon perfect obedience : For, inas-
much as God threatened death in case he should sin, it is evi-
dently implied that he should have lived forever in case he had
been obedient : So that there was infinite goodness manifested
to Adam (personally considered) in this constitution-^ — eternal
life being thus promised, of mere unmerited bounty. And be-
sides, altera while, his state of trial would have been at an end,
and he confirmed in an immutable state of holiness and happi-
ness ; of which confirmation the tree of life seems to have been
designed as a sacrojnental sign....Gtn. iii. 22 — Rev^ ii. 7, and
xxii. 14 : Whereas, had he remained in a state of pure nature,
he must have been everlastingly in a state of probation, had it
pleased his jVIaker to have continued him in being : So that,
upon the whole, it is pla'in, this constitution, as to Adam, pe>

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFKITS. 265

sonally considered, was holi/^just^and good; and Adam had
great reason, with all his heart, to give thanks to God his Maker,
for his goodness and condescension, tliat he would be so kind,
and stoop so low, as to enter into such a covenant with a worm
of the dust : and, no doubt, he did so, with the sincerest grati-
tude. We proceed, therefore, to consider,

(2.) That If all his posterity had been put under this same con-
stitution., one by one, from age to age., as they came into being., to
act singly for themselves, it had alsoy as to them, been holy,
JUST, and GOOD : As it was better for Adam than a state of
pure nature, so it would have been, for the same reason, better
for us. We (had we remained in a state of pure nature, i. e.
without any constitution at all) should have been, each one of
us, under the same infinite obligation to perfect obedience to the
law of natLure, and equallv exposed to the same infinite punish-
ment for the least sin, as he was, and as much without a title to
life upon perfect obedience, and as liable to be everlastingly in
a state of probation : And, therefore, such a constitution would
have been as great a favor to us, as it was to him ; and we
equally under obligations to gratitude and thankfulness to God
therefor. But,

(3.) It xucts a-i well for our interest, in tlie nature of the thing,
in all respects, that Adam shoidd be made a public head and rep-
resentative, to act not only for himself, but for all his posterity, as
if we hadbcenputto act singly for ourselves ; and, in some respects^
better : For Adam was, in the nature of the thing, in all respects,
as likely to stand as any of us should have been, and, in some
respects, more likely ; for he had as good natural powers — as
much of the image of God, and as great a sense of his obliga-
tions, as any of us should have had ; and had, in all respects,
as many motives to watchfulness ; and, in some respects, more
— in that not only his own everlasting welfare lay at stake, but
also the everlastingwelfare of all his posterity too. Besides, he
had just received the law from God's own mouth, and he was in a
state of perfect manhood when his trial began : So that, upon
the whole, in the nature of the thing, it was more likely he

-fi66 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

should Stand than that any of us should ; and, therefore, it wa«
more for our interest that he should act for us, than we for
ourselves : But if we had been put to act singly for ourselves,
under such a constitution, it had been much better than to be
left in a state of pure nature, and so we should have had great
cause of thankfulness to God for his condescension and good-
ness J but to have Adam appointed to act for us, was, in the
nature of the thing, still more to our advantage; on the account
of Avhich, we have, therefore, still greater cause of thankfulness
to the good Governor of the world. It is infinite wickedness,
therefore, to fly in the face of Almighty God, and charge him
with unrighteousness, for appointing Adam our head and rep-
resentative. We ought rather to say, " The constitution was
**holy, just, and good — ^\ea, very good ; but to us belongs
*' shame and confusion efface, for that we have sinned."

Ob J. But God knew hoxv it would turn out — he knew Adam
"would fall^ and undo himself and all his race.

Anp. When God called Abraham, and chose him and his
seed for his peculiar people, to give them distinguishing advan-
tages and privileges, and that professedly under the notion of
great kindness and unspeakable goodness ; yet, at the same
time, he knetu how they would turn out — how they would be
a stiff-necked people, and would kill his Prophets, his Son and
Apostles, and so be cast off from being his people. He knew
all this beforehand ; yet that altered not the nature of the thing
at all — did not diminish his goodness, nor lessen his grace.
And the Jewish nation, at this day, have reason to say, " I'he
"Lord's ways have been ways of goodness, and blessed be his
*'name ; but to us belong shame and confusion of face, for
" that we have sinned."

Ob J. Tes, but God decreed tliat Adam shoxddfalL

Ans. He did not decree that Adam should fall, any more
than he did that the seed of Abraham should turn out such a
stiff-necked, rebellious race. He decreed to permit both to do
as they did ; but this neither lessens his goodness, nor their
sin : for God is not obliged to put his creatures under such cir-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 267

«umstances as that they shall never be tempted nor tried ; and
when they are tried, he is not obhged to keep them from fall-
ing ; it is enough that they have sufficient power to stand, if
they will ; — which was tiie case with Adam. Besides, God
had wise ends in permitting Adam to fall ; Ibr he designed to
take occasion therefrom, to display all his glorious perfections
in the most illustrious manner : So that we may say of it (and
should, if we loved God above ourselves) as Joseph does of his
brethren's selling him — Te meant it for evil., but the Lord meant
it for good : So here, satan meant it for evil, but God meant it
for good ; even to bring much glory to his great name : there-
fore be still, and adore his holy sovereignty — and, at the same
time, acknowledge that the constitution, in its own nature, was
holy, just, and good — )ea, very good. These things being
considered, I proceed to add,

(4.) That^ in such a case^ God, as supreme Lord and sovereign
Governor of the -whole world^had full power and rightful author^
ity to constitute Adamy our common head and public representa-
tive, to act iji our behalf; for, as the case stood, there could be
no reasonable objection against it. Adam was not held up to
hard terms : The threatening, in case of disobedience, was
strictly just : The constitution, in its own nature, was vastly
for the interest of Adam and of all his race. Adam was alrea-
dy constituted the natural head oi a\\ mankind ; (or God blessed
him^ sayifig. Be fruiful^ and tnidtiphj, and replenish the earth....
Gen. i. 28. All his race, had they then existed, would, if they
had been wise for themselves, readily have consented to such a
constitution, as being well adapted to the general good : (So
men are wont to do when their estates lie at stake, or their lives j
if they think that an attorney is likely to manage the case for
them better than they can for themselves, they will choose him,
and venture the case with him, rather than with themselves) :
So that the only question is, whether God had, in so unexccp-
tional)le a case, full power and rightful authority to constitute
Adam a public head, to stand as a moral representative for all
his race, and act in their behalf, so thatihey should stand or fail

268 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

with him : Or, in other words, (for it all comes to the same
thing), whether, in any case whatsoever, God has full power
and rightful authority to appoint one to stand and act in the room
of another, so as to lay a foundation for the conduct of the one
to be so imputed to the other, as that both shall stand and fall
together : And so it is as much of a question, whether God had
power and authority to constitute the second Adam a public
head as the ^r5?. If God had not full power and rightful au-
thority to appoint the Jirst Adam to be our public head and
moral representative, to stand and act in our behalf, so as to lay
a foundation for his conduct to be so imputed to us, as that we
should stand and fall with him, t/ien he had not full power and
rightful authority to appoint the secojid Adam to be a public
head, and moral representative, to stand and- act in the room of
a guilty world, so as to lay a foundation for his righteousness to
be so imputed to them that beUeve in him, as that they should
be justified and saved through it : For, if-God has not power to .
constitvite one to stand, and act in the room of another, in any
case whatsoever — and if, on this footing, we say he had not pow-
er to ap}X)int ihejirst Adam, it is plain that, on the same foot-
ing, he had no power- to appoint the second, I suppose it will
be readily granted, that if God has power, in any case whatso-
ever, to constitute one to stand and act in the room of another,
in the manner aforesaid, then he had in these two instances of
Adam and Christ, which are doubdess, on all accounts, in them-
selves, most unexceptionable : But if God, in no case whatso-
ever, has power to appoint one thus to stand and act in the room
of another, then both these constitutions are effectually under-
mined, and rendered null and void. We can neither be guilty of
Adam's first sin, so as justly to be exposed to condemnation and
ruin therefor ; nor can the righteousness of Christ be so imputed
to us, as to entitle us to justification and life. One man's disobe-
dience cannot constitute many to be sinners, nor the obedience
of one co7istitute many to be righteous. We can neither be ru-
ined by the first Adam, nor redeemed by the second. Under
the Jewish dispensation, it was oiidained (Lev. xvi.) that Aaron

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 269

should lay both his hands upon the head of the live-goat^ and con-
fess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel^ and,, all
their transgressions in all their sins^ putting them upon the head
ofthegoat^ and send him cnvay bij the hand of a ft man into the
xvilderness : And (says God) the goat shall bear upon him all
their iniquities^ unto a land not inhabited. We used to think
this scape-goat was designed by God to typify Christ : And the
scripture has taught us, in express language, that the iniquities
cfus all zvcre laid on /j/w....that he bore our «nA"....that he Tvas
nutde a curse for iw,...that by his obedience many are made right-
eous....lsa\. liii. 6 — Pet. ii. 24 — Gal. iii. 13 — Rom. v. 19. —
But if God has not authority to constitute one to stand and act
in the room of another, this must all be void and of none effect:
And thus, while men are disputing against the original consti-
tution with Adam, the}:, unawares, undermine this second con-
stitution, which is the foundation of all our hopes. Eager to
avoid Adam's first sin, whereby comes condemnation, they ren-
tier of none effect Christ's righteousness, whereby comes jus-
tification : And if Christ did not stand and act as a public
person.. ..if our sins were not laid upon him....if hedidnotbare
them on the tree....if he was not made a curse for us, and if we
are not to be pardoned through his atonement, and justified
through his righteousness, then the gospel is all a fable, and the
v/holeschemeof our salvation, therein revealed, is wholly over-
thrown : What remains, therefore, but deism and infidelity ?
But in as much as we have full evidence to the truth of the
Christian revelation, and may be assured that it is from God,
we ma) , therefore, be confirmed in it that Jesus Christ has
been, by God, the great Governor of the world, appointed a pub-
lic person, to stand and act.. ..to obey and suffer in our room,
that, through his obedience and suflferings, we might have par-
don and eternal life : And, from this fact, we may be assured,
that (jod has full power and rightful authority to constitute one
to stand and act in the room of another : and, if he has such
authority, nothing hinders but that he might constitute Adam
to be ow public head, as has been said.

270 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Besides, if we consider the nature of the thing itself, it is plain
that God had power to constitute Adam our pubUc head ; for
God, as moral Governor of the world, and sovereign Lord of
all things, has power to make any constitution whatsoever,
which does, in its own nature, agree to the eternal fitness of
things, or, in other words, which is agreeable to his own perfec-
tions : Cut all will grant, that constitution is agreeable to his own
perfections, which, in its own nature, is suited to the glory of God
and good of the creatures. Now this constitution with Adam
was, in its own nature, suited to the general good of mankind,
because the welfare of mankind was, in the nature of the thing,
safer and better secured upon such a footing, than if every single
child of Adam had been left in a state of pure nature, without any
constitution at all, or than if they had every one been put to act
singly for himself — as has been before proved : And it was well
suited to the.glory of God, because in that constitution,considered
in its own nature, God eminently appeared to be what he was:
For in it he appeared as the most high God — the supreme
Lord, and sovereign Governor of the whole world — for in
it he acted as sovereign Lord of his creatures. .. as being,byna#wre,
Cod^ and as having an abnolute right to and authority over the
works of his hands. And when God acts so, as by his conduct
to show what he is, then are his doings suited to his own glory ;
for nothing is more to his glory, than to appear to be what he
is : And in 'as much as the constitution itself was well suited
to the general good of mankind, God did, in making of it, act
a kind and tender part towards the human race, to the honor
and glory of his goodness. And while eternal life was prom-
ised to perfect obedience, and eternal death threatened to diso-
bedience, God's infinite love to virtue, and infinite hatred of
vice, wei-e manifested, to the glory of his holiness and justice.
Since, then, that constitution was thus, in its own nature, suited
to our good and God's glory, there is no doubt but the sove-
reign Lord and Governor of all things had full power and right-
ful authority so to appoint : for, in so doing, he would act agree-
ablv to his own perfections, and the eternal fitness of things.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 271

But to conclude — We may be abundantly satisfied, not
onlv from the nature of the thing, but also from tuhat God has
in fact done^ that that constitution was holy, just, and good, and
that he had full power, and rightful authority to do as he did,
because otherwise he v/ould never have done so — he would
never have made such a constitution. It is plain and evident,
from factSy that Adam was considered and dealt with under
the capacity of a public head, and that death natural^ fpiritual,
and eternal^ Avere included in the threatening ; for all his pos-
terity are evidently dealt with just as if that had been the case.
They are born spiritually dead^ as has been proved in the lor-
■mer discourse. They are evidently liable to jmtural death., as
soon as they are born : And if they die and go into eternity with
their native temper, they must necessarily be miserable in be-
ing what they are, unlike to God, and incapable of the enjoy-
ment of him, and contrary to him : And God must necessarily
look upon them with everlasting abhon-ence ; for he cannot but
abhor creatures whose tempers are contrary to him : so that
here is eternal death; and all in consequence of Adam's first sin.

Now then, if indeed we are, mfact, dealt with just as we
should have been, had Adam been our public head, there can
purely need no farther evidence to prove that this was the case ;
for the fudge of all the earth canjiot but do right : and, there-
fore, he would not deal with us as being guilty of Adam's fust
sin, were not Adam our representative : But had Adam been
our representative, and his first sin imputed to us, yet thejiWQ
shoiild have been dealt wilii no otherwise than ncza we are ;
i. e. on supposition of the interposition of a Mediator, as is now
the case : for that we are now born into the world subject to
natural death, none can deny, and this by virtue of Adam's first
sin ; and if we are really spiritually dead too, and so exposed to
eternal death, it is just what might have been expected, had Ad-
am stood for us — and so there is no more to be said : And if
Ciod be such a Being, as I suppose he is, and the law such, and
the nature of true holiness such, then, as has been shown in the

frst discourse, there is no doubt we are, nativelv, spirittudhi

M M

2/2 TRU£ RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

dead : So that the force of this argument depends upon the truth
o£ those Jirst principles, which, I think, have beerj sufficiently
proved. Right apprehensions of the w&r^/ latu will, at once,
convince us of our inherent natural corruption, and make us feel
that we are fallen creatures.

Remark. Perhaps this is the consideration which most
commonly first leads poor sinners to see that they do actually
lie under the guilt of Adam's iirst sin ; and that their ruin
thence took its rise, viz. their finding, by experience, when the
spirit of God brings home the law and awakens conscience, that
they are, by nature, dead in trespasses and sins ; for now no
conclusion can be more natural than that they are, by nature^ chil-
dren of -wrath : And this will naturally lead them to enquire.
Whence this has come to pass ? and they will presently find the
scripture express and plain in it, that, by one Juan^s disobedience^
many were made sinners ; and, by the offence of one ^judgment
came upon all to condemnation : and their own experience will
give them the most natural comment upon the words, while they
feel themselves to be, by nature, dead in sin, and exposed to
eternal ruin : But now, " How could I justly have all this come
" upon me for Adam's first sin ?" will naturally be the next
tliought : And an av/akened conscience will, perhaps first of all,
reply, " How it is just and right I cannot tell, but I am certain
*' so it is, that I am, by nature, dead in sin, and, by nature, a
*•'■ child of v/rath ; — this I see and feel ; And the scripture says,
*' that, bij one marHs disobedience^ many were made sinners ; and
*' that,y&/- the offence of one ^ judgment came upon all men to con-
'■'■ donnaiioi : And God's ways must be righteous, for the Judge
"of all the earth alwa}'s does I'lght : And if I do finally perisli,
'■'■ I ha\e nothing to say ; for I have gone in Adam's steps....!
'•'• have been voluntary in my rebellion against God all my life,
" and am at heart an enemy to*him still, and that voluntarily so."
And this nv,\\\ in a measure, silence such a poor sinner for the
present : But ii ever he comes to be reconciled to the divine
nature, and then irapartially to look into the original constitu-
tion, he may then see that it was, in its own nature, holy, just,

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUN TliUi 1.11 S. 273

and good, and worthy of God, the great Governor of the world ;
and, as such, sweetly acquiesce in it, saying, " God's ways were
" holy, justy and good, and blessed be his name ; but to us (to
*' all the human race) belong shame and confusion of face, for
" that we have sinned." But until men are awakened, at least
to some sense of their natural corruption, they are commonly
very blind and deaf to all the scripture says about this matter.
It is hard to make men believe contrary to their own experi-
ence— to make them believe that they fell in Adam, when they
do not feel that they are, by natnre, fallen creatures. Let the
scripture speak ever so plain, yet they cannot believe that it
means as it says : It must mean, they think, something else.
The best method, therefore, to convince sinners of the doctrine
of original (imputed) sin, and to silence all their cavils, is to
open the true meaning of the 7iioral law, and show them their
naiivc depravity : This is the method which God takes in the
Bible. He says but little about Adam's first sin, but says much
to show us what we really are, as knowing that, if we are but
once convinced of our native corruption, a few words are suffi-
cient to show us v/heace our ruin originally took its rise.

Thus God, the great Go\ ernor of the woi-ld, in the gospel-
dispensation, considered mankind as being in a perishing con-
diticn... .sinful, guiltv, justly condemned, helpless, and undone ;
and one ground and reason of his looking upon mankind to be
in such a condition, was our original apostacy from him in our
first parents : And since that constitution, whereby Adam \va§
made our common head and public representative, was holy,
just, and good, in its own nature ; and since God, the supreme
Lord of all things, had full power and rightful authority so to"
ordain and appoint — hence, therefore, he has sufiicient reason
to look upon mankind,on account of this first apostacy,as he does.

Therefore, at the same time he provided a Savior for Adam,
at the same time did he also provide a Sa\ ior for his posterity
too ; they being considered as one with him, and involved in
the same sin, and guilt, and ruin ; and so standing in equal need
of relief : Hence Christ is called the kimb slain from thcfoun-

274 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

dation of the world. Then was it said, that the seed of the wo-
man shall bruise the serpent's head : To which original grant
our Savior seems to have respect, when he says, God so loved
the -worlds that he gave his only begotten Son, he. Whereas,
had Adam acted in the capacity of a private person, and sinned
and fallen for himself alone, and his posterity not been involved
in the same ruin, he might have had a Savior provided for
him : But his posterity would no more have needed one than
the angels in heaven, or than Adam before his fall.

Obj. But those words^ In the day thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die, (Gen. ii. 1 7) xuere evidently spoken only to Ad-
am; nor is there axvord said about his posterity having amy inte-
rest or concern in the affair i

Ans4 So also were those words, in Gen* iii* \^....Dust thou
art, and unto dust shalt thou return, spoken only to Adam, with-
out the least intimation that his posterity were any of them in-
cluded in the sentence : And yet, by virtue of that sentence, all
his posterity are subject to death. ...i?o;«. v. 12, 13, 14 : Do
you account for this, and you will, at the same time, account
for that ; for the truth is, that, in both cases, Adam v/as con-
sidered not merely as a single private person, but as a public
head and representative, standing in the room of all his poster-
ity : and, considered in this capacity, was he threatened with
death, in case he sinned — and, considered in this capacity, was
natural death denounced upon him after his fall : So that, in
both, his posterity were equally included : and therefore St.
Paul calls Adam a type oiChrist.*..Romt v« 14 — and calls Christ
the second K6i^.n\..i..l. Cor, xv. 45 ; because both these, by the
authority of the great Governor of the world, were constituted
public persons, to act in the behalf of mankind : And all man-
kind were so included in them, that St. Paul speaks as if there
had been but only these two men, Adam and Christ: I. Gor.
XV. ^7. ...The fir St man is of the earth, earthy ; the second inan
is the Lordfrom heaven.

2. God, the supreme Ruler of the world, does, in the gospel,
consider mankind as being in a perishing condition, not only

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 275

en the account of their original apostacy in Adam, their com-
mon head and representative, but also because they are, what
they are^ in themselves — (1.) Destitute of the divine image —
(2.) Contrary to God in the temper of their hearts — (3.) Ut^-
terly averse to a reconcihation — (4.) In a disposition, if mire-
strained, to live in all open rebellion against the Majesty of
heaven, before his face — (5.) And yet insensible of their just
desert, and of their need of sovereign grace ; and ready rather
to think it a cruel thing, if God should damn them.

(1.) God saxu mankhid destitute of his moral image ; for being
conscious of the holy temper of his own heait....ofthe holy pro-
pensity of his own nature — and being conscious to the temper
of their hearts. ..to the propensity of their nature, at first view
he saw what they were. God looked down from heaven upon the
children of men, to see if there were any that did understand^
that did seek God : Every one of them is gone back ; they are aU
together become filthy ; there is none that doth good...no^ not one
....Psalm liii. 2, 3 : He saw mankind destitute of a conformity
to his holy law. The law requires mankind to love God su-
premely, live to him ultimately, and delight in him superlative-
ly— and to love one another as their own souls ; but he look-
ed down from heaven. ...he beheld, and, lo, all the human race
were entirely devoid of that temper : None were in a disposi-
tion to account him infinitely glorious in being what he was ;
not one had the least relish or taste for the beauty of his moral
perfections : every heart empty of holy love and holy delight,
and devoid of any true spirit or principle of obedience j and all
mankind had lost that frame of spirit towards one another which
they ought to have : The whole world lay in ruin. He knew
his law was holy, just, and good, and that his creature, man, was
under infinite obligations to a perfect confoi-mity thereto : He
saw what grounds there were for the law, and what reasons for
their obedience : He saw his own infinite excellency, and his
original, underived, entire right to them ; and was conscious to
his rightful authority over them : He judged them infinitely to
blame for their non-conformity, and worthy of an infinite pun-

276 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ishment : Speaking after the manner of men, he did, in the in-
ward temper of his heart, perfectly approve of those words in
Gal. iii. 10, as being strictly just — Cursed is every one that con-
ti7iueth not in all things xvritten in the book of the laxo to do them :
Therefore he looked on mankind in a perishing condition. But,

(2.) He vitnved mankind not only destitute of good ^ hutfidl of
coil; — not only void of the true love to God and to one anoth-
er, but enemies to God, and living in malice and envy among
themselves. He looked down from heaven and viewed a guil-
tv world, and sav/ their contrariety to his nature and to his law :
Conscious of his own divine temper, he saw every contrary
temper in them : What he esteems, they despise ; — what he de-
lights in, they loathe : The end v/hich he prosecutes, they op-
pose ', and they esteem and delight in that which is contrary to
him, and prosecute ends and designs contrary to his : He saw
their views, their tempers, their wills, their ends, designs, and
ways were all contrary to him, and diametrically opposite to his
law: He considered them as his enemies, and their tempers as
perfect enmity and contrariety to the divine nature. ...i?Off:*
viii. 7.

(3.) And in as much as he thus saw them entirely destrtttte
of love to him, and diametrically contrary to the divine nature
in the temper of their hearts, he knexv they tvoidd have no inclh-
nation to a reconciliatio?% to God ; but xvoiild be nataralhj averse
to it : He knew their aversion to a reconciliation would be as
strong as their contrariety to the divine nature, from which it
took its rise : He saw that if he should attempt to reclaim them,
he should only meet with resistance ; — ^thatif he should spread
the news of pardon and peace through a guilty world, and in-
vite them to return and be reconciled, that they would make
light of it and despise it ; — that if he should send messengers
after them, to persuade them to return, and beseech them to be
reconciled, that they would put many of them to death : He
saw just what treatment the prophets, and Christ, and his apos-
•tles were like to meet with : He knew not one in all the world
would repent and convert, unless brought thereto by his own al-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 277

imighty arm, and all-conquering grace.... il/a?. xxi. 32 — 39 —
Rom. viii. 7 — I. Cor, iii. 6, 7.

(4.) Tea, so far from a disfidsition to repent and convert, t/iat^
if left xvliolbj to themselves, unrestrained, no rvickedness xvouldbe
too bad for them : All would act as bad as Cain, jVIanasselh, or
Judas ; and the whole human race be like so many incarnate
devils — they having the seed of all sin in their hcavia.... Mark
vii. 21, 22.

(5.) And yet insensible of their sin and guilt, and just desert^
and that they lie merely at the sovereign mercy ofGod^ and that
he is at libertij to show mercy, or 7iot,as seems good iji his sight:
vea, so averse to the knowledge of this their true state, as to
be disposed to hate the light, and shut their eyes against it, rea-
dy to resist all methods of conviction ; — yea, that some would
be even so perverse, as actually to rise in arms against his mes-
sengers, who endeavored to shew them their ruin and the way
of their recovery, and put them to death, as not fit to live ; and
yet so stupid as to think, that, in all, they did God good ser-
vice : And that, in general, a great out-cry would he raised
round a proud and guilty world, against the Lord, for suppo-
sing mankind to be in so bad, so very forlorn a state. God
knew the pride of man, that he is exceedingly proud ; and saw
how great offence would be given to a guilty world, who would
by no means endure to be so affronted.. ..yoAn iii. 19, 20, and
viii. 33, 47.

Now, such were the grounds upon which God looked upon
the human race in a perishing condition. ...sinful, guilty, justly
condemned, helpless, and undone : And considering that the
original constitution with Adam, according to which he and all
his posterity were doomed to destruction, in case he fell, was
holy, just, and good ; and considering that the law of natm-c,
which all mankind are naturally undei*, and according to which
the least sin exposes to eternal damnation, is also holy, just, and
good ; and considering our apostacy in Adam, and what we
are in ourselves ; — I say, considering all these things, it is most
certain and evident that the judgment of God was according to

278 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

truth, while he esteemed mankind to be thus in a perishing
condition.

That mankind are actually of such a nature, has been demon-
strated in xht for jner discourse : That God, whose understand-
ing is infinite, and who sees all things as being what they really
are, must therefore now see mankind to be such, is self-evi-
dent : and such as he notv sees them to be, such he, from the
beginning, knnv they would be : It is evident, therefore, d pri-
ori^ that God must have considered mankind to be such^ when
lie first entered upon his designs of grace revealed in the gos-
pel : And if we consider the nature of the gospel, and what
methods God has taken with a sinful, guilty world, to reclaim
and recover them, and how they have behaved under all, it will
be still more evident that mankind are verily in such a case. —
The law.. ..the gospel, and experience, all join to confirm it.

Had not the gospel considered us as being entirely devoid of
the divine image, destitute of any spiritual good thing, blind,
dead, graceless, why should it so much urge the necessity of
our being born again. ...m?i^e. nexv creatures,. ..ha^s'ing our eyes
opened. ..htm^ raised from the dead... being created anezv to good
ruorks. ..vind having the law written in our hearts., the heart of
stone taken arvay., arid an heart of flesh given ? — Had not the
gospel considered us as being enemies to God., why should it in-
vite us to be reconciled? — Had not the gospel considered us as
being very averse to a reconciliation, why should it pray and
beseech us, v/ith so much earnestness and solemnity, to be re-
conciled....and use so many arguments ? — Had not the gospel
considered our reconciliation as unattainable by the most pow-
erful arguments, of themselves, why should it declare that, after
all, neither Paul, nor Apollos, nor Cephas are any thing, or can
do any thing, unless God himself give the increase ?-— And were
we not enemies to God, and rebels, and inveterate haters of the
light, and disposed to rise in arms against it, why should Christ
tell his ministers, / send you forth as sheep among wolves ; if
they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, no wonder
they call y oil so ; you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake ;

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 279

thry that kill you xvill think they do God good service f That
generation thought as well of themselves as the present genera-
tion now on earth does, and were ready to speak the same lan-
guage, and say. If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we
would 7iot have killed the prophets ; but Christ knew their
hearts : And, had not mankind, on these accounts, been con-
sidered as in a perishing condition, sinful, guilty, justly con-
demned, helpless and undone, why was there provided such a
Redeemer, and such a Suncti/irr P And why was the salvation
of sinners every where represented as being so entirely owing
to the grace, the mere grace, the free, astonishing, wonderful
gi-ace of God, irom tirst to last ? Surely, from all this, most
certain and evident it is, that God does, in the gospel, upon
these grounds, consider mankind as being in a perishing con-
dition : And upon these grounds we must, therefore, come to
consider ourselves so too, or we can never be in a disposition
humbly and thankfully to accept the grace offered, and return
home to God in the way provided. We shall rather be affront-
ed, that the gospel supposes us to be in so bad a condition ; or
else never so much as take matters into serious consideration,
but do as those invited to the marriage of the king's son, in
IVIat. xxii. 5. ...They made light of it, and went their ways, one
to his farm, another to his merchandize. I do but just hint at
these things now, because they have been so largely insisted
upon heretofore. And thus we see upon what grounds it is,
that the great Governor of the world does, in the gospel, con-
sider mankind as being in a perishing condition.

SECTION II.
• HOWING WHEN'CE GOd's DESIGN OF MERCY TOWARDS A PER-
ISHING WORLD ORIGINALLY TOOK ITS RISE.

I proceed now,

II. To show what zucre the motives xvhich have excited God
to do what he has done, for the recovery of sinners out of this
their perishing condition. And

1. It was not because the ori^/inal constitution with Adam, our
public head and representative, xvas too severe : It was not be-

N N

280 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

eaiise it xvould have been hard and cruel, or in the least inconsist'
entwith his infinite govdness ami tender mercies, to have left all
mankind in tliat state of total ruin they were brought into by the
fall : For had not that constitution been, in its own nature, ho-
ly, just, and good, and so most perfectly agreeable to his own
nature....to his holiness, justice, and goodness, he would never
have made it ; for he necessarily infinitely abhors, in his pub-
lic conduct, to act counter to the inward temper of his heart.
For the very reason that he loves himself for being whathe is,for
the same reason he loves to act like himself, andinfinltely abhors
the contrary : And ifthat constitution was holy, just,and good, in
its o\vn nature, originally, it must remain so still ; for Adam's
apostacy, together with all the dreadful consequences thereof,
could not alter its nature. The constitution is perfectly as ex-
cellent as if Adam had never fallen. ...perfectly as good as if it
had been the means of laying a foundation for the everlasting
blessedness of all the human race ; for it is what it was. It was
excellently well calculated for the glory of God, and the welfare
of mankind, in its own nature ; and therefore God made it....
approved of it.. ..was well pleased with it, nor can he ever alter
his mind about it : for it is, in itself, just the same it was at first
— and if it was holy, just, and good, in its own nature, and if it
remains so still.. ..if the holiness, justice, and goodness of his
nature prompted him at first to make it, and then to approve of
it, and be perfectly well pleased with it, it could not (it is self-
evident) possibly have been, in the least, disagreeable to his
holiness, justice, or goodness, to have dealt with all mankind,
since the fall, according to it : So that, to a demonstration,
God's thoughts of mercy tov^ards a guilty, undone world, did ■
not, in any measure, take its rise from any notion that mankind
had been hardly dealt with, or that it would be any thing like
cruelty and unmercifulness to damn the whole world for Ad-
am's first sin, according to the tenor of the original constitution.
Indeed, to suppose such a thing, highly reflects upon that con-
stitution— and upon God, for ever making it : It supposes the
sonsiitution was never really holy, just, and good in its ovva

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 281

nature, and that God did wrong in making it : And the
riches and glory of gospel-grace are wholly obscured ; for God
cannot be considered as a sovereign benefactor^ showing unde-
served mercy to a guilty, hell-deserving world ; but rather as
repenting for the injury he has done to mankind, and as endeav-
oring to make amends for it by a better, a juster and kinder
conduct for the time to come : And if this were the case, all
his pretences, his high pretences to great love and goodness,...
to great kindness and grace, are hypocritical, and a mere mock-
ing of us. lie had abused andinjured us, and is now but re-
penting^ and making restitution ; luid ought, therefore, to have
said so, and not pretended he did all from mere grnce^ which
is to affront us, and make as if that constitution was holy, just,
and good, and we righteously condemned, and justly miserable
forever : So that, let us view the case in what light we will, it is
most evident and certain that the great Governor of the world
considered mankind as being righteously condemned, and lia-
ble to everlasting destruction, consistent with the infinite good-
ness of his nature ; nor did a thought of pity ever enter into
his heart from the contrary supposition : Yea, it seems to have
been his very design to maintain the honor of that constitution,
while he shows mercy to a guilty world, inasmuch as he has
appointed another public person, his own clear Son, to make
atonement for our original apostacy, as well as our other sins,
that hei-eby a way foriiis mercy might be opened. .«./i?^«z. v.
18, 19.

2. Nor did God's designs of mercy towards a guilty, undone
world take their rise from a supposition that the lazv of nature,
• which all mankind are naturally under ^ is too severe, in requi-
ring perfect obedience, and threatening eternal damnation for the
very least defect, (Rom. i. 18 — Gal. iii. 10), or from any sup'
position that it woidd have been any thing like cruelty or unrner*-
cifulnessy to have dealt with cdl nmnkind according to that rule.

To explain myself, I mayjust observe, that the original con.
stitution with Adam, as public head, (Gen. ii. IT) was 2^. positive
appointment. After he was turned out of the garden, he cea-

282 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

sedto sustain the character or capacity of a public person ; nor
are his posterity accountable for any but his first transgression.
But the law of nature results from the nature of things.. ..from
God's being what he is in himself, and from our being what
we are, and he our Creator and we his creatures : And it was
binding, in order of nature, antecedent to any positive consti-
tution whatsoever : nor is its binding nature capable of any
dissolution. We might have obtained life, according to the
constitution made with Adam, had he kept covenant with God;
and been confirmed in a state of holiness and happiness : so
now we may obtain life by Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled the
law of nature, and made atonement for all sin : But the law of
nature still remains an unalterable rule of righteousness be-
tween God and his creature, man. We owe perfect obedience
to God, and the least sin deserves eternal damnation : And
God might always have dealt with mankind simply according
to this rule. The original constitution with Adam had some
degree of grace in it. The constitution in the gospel is alto-
gether GRACE. God might have held all mankind bound by
the law of nature simply, nor ever have appointed any other
way to happiness, than a perfect and persevering obedience ;
and mankind have been, to all eternity, in a peccable state, lia-
ble to sin and fall into ruin. Whatsoever advantages mankind
have had over and above this, are, and have been, oi mere grace.
According to the law of nature, we are under infinite obligations
to perfect holiness in the temper of our hearts, and to perfect
obedience in the whole course of our lives, and that not only
for a day, or a year, or a thousand years, but so long as we con-
tinue in being. And so long as we are thus obedient, wc shall
be happy ; but the least defect, at any time whatsoever, will let
in everlasting, inevitable rain upon us. Adam, in innocence,
was under the law of nature, as well as under that particular
positive constitution in Ge?7. ii. IT: So that any other sin, as
well as eating the forbidden fruit, must have exposed him to
ruin. But then, by that constitution, he had this peculiar ad-
vantage, that, if he persevered, his time of trial should shortly

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COU*fTERFEITS. 283

be at an end, and himself and all his race confirmed in a state
of holiness and happiness — an advantage never to be obtained
by any one merely under the law of nature : For, in the nature
of things, it is impossible God should ever be laid under any
obligations to his creatures, unless bj' virtue of his own free
promise, which does not belong to the law of nature, Ijut is an
act of grace, which he may grant or withhold, as seems good in
his sight. When Adam broke covenant with God, and when
that positive constitution was at an end, yet still Adam re mained,
under the law of nature, bound to perfect obedience, to 1 -.e
God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself; yea, under
infinite obligations — and every defect was infinitely sinful, and
so was worthy of infinite punishment. And as was the case
with him, so is the case with all his posterity : Our obligations
are infinite, and so our non-performance infinitely fault)', and
worthy of an infinite punishment : Though, indeed, as the case
now stands, nor Adam, nor any of his race can ever obtain life
by the law of nature ; because we are sinners, and so, by the
law of nature, are condemned without hope. Rom. iii. 20....
By the deeds of the Uno nojiesh can be justified ; for by the laxv
is the knowledge of sin : And chap. iv. ver. 15. ..The law work-
cth wrath. And thus, as the case now stands, wc are under
infinite obligations to perfect obedience, and are liable to an in-
finite punishment for the least defect ; and }'et, through the bad
temper of our heai^ts, we are unable to yield any obedience, and
are in a disposition to be continually treasuring up wrath
against the day of wrath.

Now, I say, the suj)remc King of heaven and earth was not
moved to entertain designs of mercy towards a sinful, guilt\',
undone world,, from a supposition that the law of nature was too
severe, or that it would have been any thing like unmertiful-
ness to have dealt with all mankind according to that rule : For,

All that this law requires, is, that since God is infinitely amia-
ble in himself, and has such an entire right to us, and absolute
authority over us as his creatures, wc therefore ought to lovt
him with all our hearts^ and be entirely devoted to him, to do

284 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

his wiH and keep his commands, seeking his glory ; and that,
since our neighbors are such as we.. .of the same species, and
under the same general circumstances, we therefore ought to
hvs our neighbor as ourselves ; — both which things are, in their
own nature, right, and fit, and reasonable : so that the law is ho-
ly : And all that this law threatens, in case of any transgres-
sion, is, that since our obligations are infinite, and so the least
defect infinitely wrong, therefore every such defect should be
punished with the everlasting pains of hell.. ..and that in exact
proportion to the several aggravations attending each trangres-
sion ; — which is also, in its own nature, right, and fit, and rea-
sonable : so that the law is just : And that perfect holiness
which this law requires, i. e. to love God with all ovu- hearts, and
our neighbors as ourselves, is the highest perfection our nature
is capable of, and altogether suited to make us happy : so that
the law is ^cc(f. But,

It is not severe, nor any thing like unmercifulness, to deal
with mankind according to a rule, which is, in its own nature,
holy, just, and good ; but rather, it must have been agreeable to
the holiness, justice, and goodness of the great Governor of the
world so to do : And indeed, were not thie the case, it would
have been fit this law should have been repealed. Mankind
did not need to be redeemed from the curse of an unrighteous
law r for such a law ought to be laid aside, and its curses never •
executed. God would have been bound in justice to have abol-
ished an unrighteous law. There is no need of Christ cr gos-
pel-grace in the case : and so all the high commendations of the
grace of God in providing a Savior, as being rich, free, and v/on-
derful, are groundless, and cast much reproach upon mankind, as
being a guiltyrace, righteously condemned, when, in truth, it is no
such thing. God ought to have owned that the law was wrong,
and to have repealed it — and not to have proceeded as if it was
very good, and mankind altogether to blame, and v/orthy of
eternal damnation : And mightily would this have pleased an
apostate, proud, and guilty world ; and, at the same time, cast
infinite reproach upon God and his holy lav/, and shut out all
the grace of the gospel.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 285

God has therefore, in the gosi>el, not only supposed the law
to be hol}^ just, and good, and mankind righteously condem-
ned ; but has taken all possible care to make it evident that he
does so, and thereby to secure the honor of his law, discounte-
jiance sin, humble the sinner, and exalt and magnify his grace.
Even the whole scheme of the gospel is wisely calculated to attain
these ends, as we shall see hereafter. So far was God from being
moved to pity mankind, from a supposition that they had, in
this respect, been too severely dealt with, and so objects of pity-
in that sense, that, on the contrary, he most perfectly approved
of the law, as holy, just, and good-^and was altogether in it,
that mankind deserved to be proceeded with according to it :
Yea, so highly did he approve of his holy law, and so odious and
ill-deserving aid mankind appear in his eyes for breaking it,
that their sin cried aloud for vengeance in his ears ; — yea, cried
so loud for vengeance, that he judged it necessar}' that his own
Son should appear in their stead and die in their room, to the
«nd that he might be just.. ..might act consistently with the ho-
linessandjusticeof his nature, while heshowedmercy to them...
Rom. iii. 9 — 26 : In such a light he viewed things — in sucha liglit
.must we therefore view them too, or we can never truJj' under-
stand our need of Christ and gospel-grnce, or cordially acqui-
esce in the gospel-way of salvation ; but rather shall be dispo-
sed to quarrel with the strictness of the law, and think ourselves
abused, and imagine that God deals hardly with us.

3. Nor was the supreme Being moved to entertain designs
of mercy towards mankind, yJoHJ a supposition that their inabil-
ily to yield perfect obedience made them the less to blame^ and so
the morepro/n-r objects of pity on that account : For mankind are
not the less to blame for their inability ; but the more unable
they are, the greater is their blame — and so the more proper ob»
jccts arc they of the divine wrath and vengeance.

God is a most excellent and amiable Being. He infinitely
deserves our highest love and esteem, and supreme deUght. It
is perfectly fit we should be of a disposition to say. Whom have
•»cti in heaven but thee ? and there is ncthinrr on earth we desire

286 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

besides ihec-Vs^va Ixxiii. 25. Now, not to love this God with
all our hearts, must be infinitely wrong ; and not to love him at
aJI, must be worse siill: but to be habitually contrary to him in
the temper of our hearts — yea, so averse to him as that we
CANNOT love him, must be, in the very highest degree, vile and
sinl'ul : And now to say we cannot, by way oi extenuation^ as
though we were the less to blame for that, is intolerably God-
pi-ovoking; since our cannot arises only from the bad temper
of our heai'ts, and because we are not what we should be — and
not at all from any unloveliness in the divine nature, or from
our want of external advantages for the knowledge of God.

Put the case to thyself, O man : — Were you as wise as Solo-
mon, as holy as David, as humble as Paul, and of as loving and
kind a temper as John,. ..and had you a family of children...,
and were all the rules and orders of your house like yourself,
and calculated to make all your children just such as you are....
and did you perceive that your children neither liked you, nor
your ways, nor the orders of your house — they show you much
disrespect in their carnage, disregard your authority, complain
your rules are too strict, and daily break over all orders ; — at
length you call them to an account — are about to convince, hum-
ble, and reform them. ..they plead they are not to blame, at least
not so wwc/z to blame, because they cannot love you, they can-
not like your ways, they cannot but abhor such rules and or-
ders ; those very properties, on account of which you are in-
deed the most excellent man in the world, these are the verj^
things for which they dislike you, while, in the mean time, they
can most heartily love their companions in vice and debauchery:
And now the question is, vt'hether their inability to love you
renders tliem any the less to blame : or, whether it be not ve-
ry provoking in them, to plead, in excuse for themselves, that
they cannot love you ; when their cannot arises from their vol-
untary contrariety to all good, and love to debauchery ; and
not at all from any unloveliness of your person or ways ; or for
want of advantages to be acquainted with you, and with the
beauty of your temper and conduct. The application is easy.

DISTINGUI;SHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 287

Was it airy excuse for the ill-will of the malicious Pharisees to-
wards Christ, that they could not \o\c him. ...that they could not
but hate him ? Did ever any itian look upon a malicious, spiteful
neighbor, and think hiiji any the less to blame for his abundant
iil-carriagc...,for his being so exceedingly iil-natured that it was
not in his heart to do otherwise ? I appeal to the common sense
of all mrinkind.

If such an inability can excuse mankind, tlien the de\ils, up- /
en the same footing, may l)e excused too : And the more any
of God's subjects hate him, the less will they be to blame ; for
the more any do really hate God, the less able will they be to
love him ; — the more averse to his law, the less able to keep it :
And, therefore, since our inability arises from such a root, the
moi'c unable we are to love God with all our hearts, and yield 3
perfect obedience to all his laws, the more vile, guilty, helU
desei-ving we are, and the more unworthy of pity : So that our
moral inability and impotency, or rather obstinacy^ was, in the
nature of things, so foj- from extenuating our guilt and moving
the divine pity, that it was tJie strongest evidence of our ex-
ceeding vileness, and, as it were, a mighty bar and great discour-
agement in the way of God's ever entertaining any designs of
mercy towards us ; It was like the great moimtains ; so that
nothing but infinite goodness could have ever surmounted it :
And in this light must we view ourselves and our inability, and
become self-condemnvMi before God, or we shall never like it
that God looks upon us as he does, nor ever be able to look up-
on his grace in the gospel in the same light with him, nor can
we ever heartily approve of and fall in with that way of salvation.

When we are under sufficient outward advantages to come to
know what kind of Being God is, and yet, after all, see no beau.-
ty in hinx, nor esteem him, it must be either because we are in-
tolerably bad in our temper, or else because he is not tj iily, and,
indeed, a lovely and amiable Being. When we say we ccm?ict
love him, under a fond notion that w^e are hereby excused and
are not to blame, we implicitly say, that we are well enough dis^
posed, and arc of a good temper, but God is such an hateful Pe-

O o

/

288 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ing that we cannot love him ; — there is nothing in him to belov-
ed : So that to say we cannot, under a notion of extenuating
our guilt, casts the highest reflection upon God imaginable, and
indeed is big with the blackest blasphemy. We had as good say,
*' It is not owing to us that we do not love God, but to him.—
" We would readily love him, if there was any thing in him for
*' us to love ; but there is not, and so we cawnoi— and therefore^
*' are not to blame."

To suppose, therefore, that God, in the gospel, considers us
as being the less to blame for this our inability, and from thence
is moved to pity us, is the very same thing in effect as to sup-
pose that God owns himself a hateful, unlovely Being, and
thinks it a great hardship that his poor creatures should be for-
ced to love him, or be damned ; and therefore repents that ev-
er he was so severe, or ever made such a law, and is sorry for
them, and will do better by them for time to come : But how
horrid a thought is this ! It casts the highest reflection upon
God, and upon his holy law, and quite destroys all the grace of
the gospel. No, no ! God knew well enough how the case
stood : He was conscious of his own infinite excellency, and
of the infinite reasonableness of his law : He knew the hellish
temper of an apostate, rebellious race ; and verily he was God,
and not ?na«, or he would have doomed the whole world to de-
struction without any pity, or so much as one thought of mercy.
Herein was love^ not that we loved God, but that God loved u.ty
and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins... .1. Johniv. 10.
While we were si7mers and eneynies, (Rom. v. 8, 10), and most
strongly averse to a reconciliation.. ..II. Cor. v. 20.

4. Nor did his designs of mercy take their r'lst from any ex-
pectation that a rebellious, guilty, perishing world -would be so
good as, of their accord, ever heartily to thank him for it. No, he
knew well enough how it would be — that many would make
light of it; and go their ways, one to his farm, another to his
merchandize ; and that others would be affronted, and some so
very angry that they would take his messengers, and stone one,
and beat another, and kill another, and finally would crucify his

DISTINCrUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 289

Son : And he expected that mankind in general would be dis-
posed to hate his law, and penert his gospel, and resist his spir-
it ; and never one, in all the world, repent and convert, and
come and humble himself before him, and bless his holy name,
unless brought thereto by his own all-conquering grace.... il/a?.
xxi. 33 — 39, and xxii. 1 — 7 — Z,wif xiv. 16 — 23 — I. Cor. iii. 6, 7.

So that, from the whole, it is very plain God was not moved
to entertain thoughts of mercy towards mankind, neither under
a notion that they had been, in any respect, hardly dealt with...
nor under a notion that their impotency rendered them in any
measure excusable. ..nor under a notion that there was any good
in them or to be expected from them ; but, on the contrarv,he
looked upon the original constitution with Adam to be holy,
just, and good — and that, upon that footing, all mankind deser-
ved ruin ; and he looked upon the law of nature also holy,
just, and gxjod — and that, upon that looting, a wicked world de-
served his everlasting wrath ; and he looked upon them alto-
gether criminal for their impotency ; — in a word, he looked up-
on them voluntary in their rebellion, and obstinate in their en-
mity, and infinitely unworthy of the least pity — ^\ea, so unwor-
thy of pity, that, to secure his own honor, and to save himself
from just reproach, while he pitied them, and showed them mer-
cy, he thought it needful that his own Son should become a
Mediator, and bear their sin and suffer for their guilt, and so
open a way for the honorable exercise of his mercy.
To conclude, therefore,

5. It is evident that his designs of mercy took their rise mere
/i/, absolutely^ and entirely from himsef....from his orvn injinite
benevolence. ...fr07n his self-moving goodness and sovereign grace,
God 50 loved the world —

As for us, wo lay in the open field of perdition, polluted, per-
ishing in our blood and guilt ; and it was perfectly right that
the righteous sentence of the law should be executed upon us :
And God had been forever glorious in the everlasting ruin of a
rebellious world. There was nothing in our circumstances, all
things considered, of the nature of a motive to pity : We were

290 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

too bad to deserve any pit}' or relief ; — yea, so bad, that the
great Governor of the world could not, without counteracting
all good rules of government, show any mercy but by the
interposition of his own Son, to stand and die in our room and
stead : So that, instead of any motive to pity, there was every
thing to the contrary. — Our infinite ill-desert lav as an infinite
bar in the wa}-. Here, now, v/as an opportunity for infinite good-
ness and self-moving mercy to exert itself, in the most illustrious
manner, in designing mercy. ...in providing a Mediator, and in
opening a door for the exercise of much grace to mankind in
general, and of special saving mercy in ten thousand thousand
instances. There was nothing, ab extra, from without God
himself, to move and put him on to such a wonderful and glo-
rious enterprise. The motion was wholly from himself... from
his self-moving goodness. ...from his good pleasure^ according
to the counsel of his own \Kn\\....Eph. i, 3—12 : No v;'onder,
therefore, the gospel every where celebrates thelove and good*
ness, mercy and grace of God, as being rich and free, unparal-
leled, unspeakable, inconceivable, infinitely great and glorious,
as discovered in this most v/ondcrful of all God's works : And
to suppose that God was under any obligations to show these
favors, would be to undermine and overthrow the whole gos-
pel, and turn a deed of xht freest ^nd greatest grace iVito a work
o{ mere justice. — Thus we see whence God's thoughts of mer-
cy, towards a sinful, guilty world, had their rise.

He had in view a great variety of glorious designs, all infi-
nitely wise. ...all suited to display the glorious perfections of his
nature, and bring everlasting honors to his great name : He
designed to destroy the works of the d.t'fih.nGen. iii. 15 — I.
yohnin. ^. Satan had induced mankind to their rebeiiion ;
and had, perhaps, in his conceit too, made himself strong against
the Almighty : He first rebelled himself, and now he had brought
others to join with him, and in this world he intended to rule
and reign ; and, by the whole, bring much reproach upon the
rightful Lord of heaven and earth. God wrought, therefore,
for his great name's sake, that it might not be polluted ; and en"-

DISTINGUISHED TROJt ALL COUNTERFEITS. 291

tered upon methods to defeat his designs, and bring his king-
dom to nought, and crush the rebellion, and put him to open
shame — and at length bind him up in his chains, that he should
deceive the nations of the earth no more — and r^ive all nations,
languages, and tongues, to Jesus Christ, and bring the whole
world into subjection to him... ./?t'i'. xx. 1 — 4.. He designed
to display his glorious grace, in bringing millions of this sedu-
ced, apostate race from the jaws of eternal destruction to eter-
nal glory. .../?o»?. ix. 23 — Eph. ii. 7. He designed to put all
mankind in a new state of probation, and to display his glorious
goodness, patience, forbeai-ance, and long-sufflning, in his deal-
ings with the obstinate and finally impenitent in this world, and
his glorious holiness and justice in their evei'lasting punishment
in the world to come, in the same lake of fire and brimstone
which was prepared for the devil and his angels, with whom
they had joined in their rebellion agiinst the Majesty of heaven
,.,.Aci$ xiv. 17 — Rom. ii. 4, and xix. 22 — MaLxxv. 41 : — In a
word, he designed to take occasion, from the apostacj'" of man*
kind, in the innumerable instances in this world, and through-
out eternal ages in the world to come, to display all his glori-
ous perfections : and so, by his whole conduct, to exhibit a
most perfect and exact image of himself.

Thus we see that his designs of meixy towards a rebellious,
guilty, undone world, took dieir rise, not from any motives in
us, but altogether from motives in himself — from the infinite^
boundless goodness of his nature, and his sovereign good plea-
sure : And in this light must wc view die grace of the gosptl ;
and all our encouragements to hope in iris mercy, through Je-
sus Christ, must take their rise, not from any thing in ourselves,
but only from that self-moving goodness and free gi-ace which
he has manifested through Jesus Chi'ist.... Rom. iii. 19, 20, 24
— Epfi. ii. 8.

And thus we see that his end, ns to tlie elect, was to bring
them back from their apostac)-, their rebellion, anil wickedness,
and ruin, to God, their rightful Lord and Sovereign, to become
his servants, to love him, and live to him, and live upon him,

292 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

and be blessed in him forever : And in this light must we view
the gospel ; and with this its design must we heartily fall in.
And being encourged, by the grace of the gospel, to hope for
acceptance in the sight ofGod, through Jesus Christ, we must,
through Christ, give up ourselves to God, to be hie ser-
vants iorG\ei:...Lu/ie i. 74, 75 — II. Cor. v. 20 — Rom. xii. 1—
Tit. li. 11— U.

From what has been said, it will be very natural to make
these following remarks :

Rem. 1. If all God has done in the gospel, for our recove-
ry from ruin, be of mere free grace, then it is self-evident tliat
Cod was wider no obligations to a fallen^ sinfid^ guilty^ rebellious
world ; but^ as for us^ might have, consistent xvith all his perfec-
tions, left us in ruin, to inherit the fruit of our doings, and the
punishment of our sin. He was under no obligation to provide
a Redeemer, or a Sanctifier..,.to giv'e the least hint of a pardon,
or take any methods to recover us from the power of sin. He
was under no obligations to deal any better by us, than would,
in the whole, be no worse than damnation. By the constitu-
tion with Adam, and by the law of nature, this would have
been our proper due. Every thing, therefore, whereby our
circumstances have been rendered better than the circumstan-
ces of die damned, God was under no obligations unto ; but
all, over and above that, has been of free and sovereign grace.
God was at libert)-, as to us, not to have done any of these things
for us : Yea, there were on our part mighty hinderances to pre-
vent the mercy of God, and to put a bar in the way of the free
and honorable exerciseof his grace : even such hinderances, that
nothing could remove them, but the blood of Christ. Hence,

Rem. 2. Mankindwere, by their fall, brought into a state of
being infinitely worse than 7iot to be. The damned in hell, no
doubt, are in such a state, else their punishment would not be
infinite ; as justice requires it should be : But mankind, by
the fall, were brought into a state, for substance,* as bad as that

* For substance, I say, because it must be remembered that the superad-
ded punishmeriL iiiflicted upon any in hell, tor despising the gospel, must

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 293

which the damned are in : For the damned undergo nothing
in hell, but what, by the constitution with Adam, and the law
of nature, all mankind were, and would have been, for substance,
exposed unto, if mere grace had not prevented. And, accord-
ing to what was but now observed, God was under no more
obligation to grant any relief to mankind, in this their fallen,
sinful, guilty, undone condition, than he is now to the damned
in hell ; i. e. under no obligations at all : but the way for mer-
cy to come to them was mightily barred and blocked up, by
the infinite reasonableness of their being punished, and their
infinite unworthiness, in the very nature of things, as the case
then stood, of ever being pitied : So that mankind v/ere, by
the fall, brought into a state of being, (in scripture called co7P-
demnation ?ir\d xvrath....Rom. v. 18 — Eph. ii. 3,) for substance,
as bad as that which the damned are in ; so that, if the damned
are in a state of being infinitely worse than not to be, as no
doubt they are, then so also were mankind : And mankind be-
ing actually brought into such a state by the fall, is what renders
the grace of the gospel so inconceiveble, so unspeakable in its
greatness, and so absolutely free. To deny that mankind, by
the fall, were brought into such a state, is the same thing, in ef-
fect, as to deny original sin, and undermine the glorious grace
of the gospel.

Ob J. But how could God^ consistent 7vith his perfections^ put
us into a state of being worse than not to be ? Or how can ive
ever thank God for such a beirig ?

Ans. Our being brought into so bad a state was not ow-
ing to God, i. e. to any fault in him, but merely to ourselves....
to our apostacy from God. It was our apostacy from God
that brought all this upon us, in way of righteous judgment...,
Rom. V. 18, 19. Our being in so bad a state is no more owing
to God, than theirs is who are now in hell. They deserve to
be in hell, according to a law that is holy, just, and good ; and

be left out of the account : For all this is over and above what, by the
constitution with Adam, and ihe law of nature, ntankind were cr ever
would have been exposed unto.

294- TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Vv'e desei'\'e to be in such a slate, according to the constitution
ni.'ide witli Adam, wliich was also holy, just, and good : and
therefore the one may be consistent with the divine perfectionSj
as well as the other. It cannot be disagreeable to the holiness,
justice, and goodness of the divine nature, to deal with man-
kind according to a constitution, in its own nature holy, just,
and good.

Now, in as much as God did virtually give being to all man-
kind, when he blessed our first parents, and said, Be fruitful,
and multiply ; and in as much as being, under the circumstances
that man was then put in by God, was very desirable. ..we ought,
therefore, to thank God for our being, considered in this light,
and justify God in all the evil that is come upon us for our
apostacy ; for the Lord is righteous, and we are a guilty race.

Those in hell are in a state of being infinitely worse than not
to be ; and, instead of thanking God for their beings, they blas-
pheme his name : but still there is no just ground for their con-
duct : They have no reason to think hard of God for damning
them ; they hase no reason to blame him ; they have no rea-
son to esteem him any the less for it : he does what is fit to be
done : His conduct is amiable j and he is worthy of being es-
teemed for doing as he does... .and all holy beings will always
esteem liim for it..,.(i?t'y. xix. 1 — 5.) Therefore the damned
ought to ascribe all their evil to themselves, and justify God,
and say, "He gave us being.. .and it was a mercy.. .and he de-
" serves thanks ; but to us it is owing that we are now in a state
*' infinitely worse than not to be : God is not to blame for that ;
*' nor is he the less worthy of thanks for giving us being, and
*'for ail past advantages which we ever enjoyed: for the
*'law is holy, just, and good, by and according to which we
*' suffer all these things :" — So here : Mankind, by the fall,
were brought into a state of being infinitely worse than not to
be : and were they but so far awake as to be sensible of it, they
would no doubt, all over the earth, murmur, and blaspheme the
God of heaven. But what then ?... There would be no just
g!-ound for such conduct : We have no reason to think hard

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 295

of God — to blame him, or to esteem liim any the less. What
he has done was fit and right ; his conduct was beautiful ; and
he is worthy to be esteemed for it : for that constitution was ho-
ly, just, and good, as has been pi'oved : And therefore a fallen
world ougiit to ascribe to themselves all their evil, and to justi-
fy God, and say, *' God gave us being under a constitution ho-
" ly, just, and good ; and It was a mercy : We should have ac-
** counted it a great mercy, in case Adam had never fallen ; but
*' God was not to blame for this.... nor therefore is he the less
*' worthy of thanks : All that we suffer is by and according to
*' a constitution in its own nature holy, just, and good :'*
Thus mankind ought to have said, had God never provided a
Savior, but left all the world in ruin : and thus ought they to
have justified God's conduct — laid all the blame to themselves,
and acknowledged that God deserved praise from all his works ;
which, as they came out of his hands^xvcre all very good.,,.Gen,
i. 31.

Obj. But although ive were^ by thefall^ brought into such a
state ofivrath and condemnation^ yet now rue are delivered out of
it by Christ ; for as, in Adam^ all die, so, in Christ, shall all be
made alive.

Ans. Before men believe in Christ, they are as justly expo-
sed to divine vengeance, as if Christ had never died....yo/2niii.

18, 36 : And there is nothing to keep off vengeance, one mo-
ment, but sovereign mercy ; which yet they continually affront
and provoke.. .,/vC7?2. ii. 4, 5 : And they are so far from an in-
clination to turn to God of their own accord, that they are dis-
posed to resist all the means used to reclaim \\\cxv\..,»yohn iii.

19. It is true, God is ready, through Christ, to receive return-
ing sinners, and invites all to return through him : Thus God
^s good and kind to an apostate world , and offers us mercy. God
is not to blame that we are in so bad a case : our destruction is
of ourselves, and the Lord is righteous : But still it is evident
wc are in a perishing condition, and shall certainly perish, not-
withstanding all that we, of our own mere motion, ever shall do.
If sovereign grace does not prevent, there is no hope.

296 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Qbj. But if mankiiid are thus, bij nature^ children ofxurath
— in a state of being worse than not to be, and, even after all that
Christ has done, are in themselves thus utterly undone^ how can
men have a heart to propagate their kind, or account it a blessing
to have a numerous posterity ?

Ans. It is manifest by their conduct — by their neglecting
their children's souls, and caring only for their bodies, that pa-
rents, in general, do not propagate with any concern about the
spiritual and eternal well-being of their posterity. It is proba-
ble, in general, they are influenced by the same motive that the
brutal world are, together with a desire to have children under
the notion of a worldly comfort, without scarcely a thought of
what will become of their posterity for eternity.

As to godlij parents, they have such a spirit of love to God,
and resignation to his will, and such an approbation of his dis-
pensations toward mankind,and such a liking to his whole scheme
of government, that they are content that God should gov-
ern the world as he doss.. ..and that he should have subjects to
govern. ...and that themsel<'es and their posterity should be un-
der him, and at his disposal : Nor are they without hopes of
mercy for their children, from sovereign grace through Christ,
while they do, through him, devote and give them up to God,
and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ;
And thus they quiet themselves as to their souls. And now,
considering children merely as to this life, it is certain that it is
a great comfort and blessing to pai-ents to have a promising oiP
spring.

As to carnal men, since they are enemies to God and his ho-
ly law, it is no wonder they are at enmity against his whole
scheme of conduct as Governor of the world. Did they un-
derstand how God governs the world, and firmly believe it,
I doubt not it would make all their native enmity ferment to
perfection : They would wish themselves to be from under
God's government, and hate that he should ever have any thing
of theirs to govci'n : As soon as ever they enter into the eternal
world, and see how things really are, this will, no doubt, actual-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 297

ly be their case :— In a word, if men heartily like the original
constitution with Adam, as being, in- its own nature, holy, just,
and good, this objection will, upon mature consideration, be no
difficulty with them ; and if they do not, it is not any thing that
can be said, will satisfy them. But wicked men's not liking
the constitution, does not prove it to be bad.

Ob J. It cannot be thought a blessing to have children, if the
most of them are likely, finalbj,, to perish.

Ans. The most of Abraham's posterity, no doubt, for above
these three thousand years, have been wicked, and have perish-
ed ; and God knew before-hand how it would be ; and ) et he
promised such a numerous posterity under the notion of a great
blessing.. ..G<';2. xxii : For, considering children merely as to this
life, they may be a great blessing and comfort to parents, and
an honor to them ; but it is very fitting our children should be
God's subjects, and under his government : Nor are they any
the less blessings to us, as to this life, because they must be ac-
countable to God in the life to come : They may be a great
comfort to us in this life ; and we are certain God will do them
no wrong in the life to come. All men's murmuring thoughts
about this matter arise from their not liking God's way of gov-
erning the world.

' Rem. 3. Then do we begin to make a just estimate of the grace
...thefree, rich, and glorious grace of God, the great Governor of
the world, displayed in the gospel, when we con^sider )nankind,hif
and according to a constitution and a law, both of them holjj,justy
and good, actually in such a ruined state. Now we may begin
a little more to see the natural import of those words, God so
hved the world : such a world was it, that he loved and pitied :
a world in so bad a state : a- perishing world, sinful, guilty, just-
Iv condemed, altogether helpless and undone : And to Iiave a
door opened by the blood of Christ, for us to be raised from the
depth of such ruin, is wonderful grace indeed. And in this
light does the matter stand in scripture-account : for, according
to that, by the offence of one, judgment came upon all to condem'
nation ; and, by the disobedience of onc^ many were made (or

298 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

constituted) sinners, by virtue of the original constitution with
Adam *..../?(? w. v. 18, 19 : And all the world stood guilty bok
Jbre God, by virtue of their want of conformity unto and trans-
gression of the law of nature, or moral \2LW..,.Rom. iii. 9, 19:
And hence mankind were considered as being under sin, and
under the curse of the law, and under the wrath qfGod,.,.B.ovci,
iii. 9 — Gal. iii. 10 — John iii. 16 — Rom. i. 18 : And under this
notion Christ was appointed, to save his people from their sins^
(Mat. i. 21) — to deliver them from the wrath to come, (I. Thes.
i. 10) — and to bring it to pass, that whereas, ^j/ ^Ae disobedience
of one, many were 7nade sinners, so^ by the obedience of one, many
might be made righteous.,.. Kom. v. 19 : And hence the gospel
so mightily magnifies the grace of God, his love and goodness^
as being unparalleled, unspeakable, inconceivable, passing knowl-
edge. God so loved the world, says Christ.. ..Go^ commendeth
his love, saithPaul...,Zr<?rem is love, says John. It has height
and laigth, depth and breadth : It is rich grace, and the exceed-
ing riches of grace. And why ? why is it so magnified and ex-
tolled ? — Why, for this, among other reasons, because all this
was done while we did not love God....\f\\A& we were sinners...,
while we were ungodly.... \N\\\\e we were enemies... .^NhxXo, we
were exposed to wrath, guilty before God, perishing, lost, without
strength : Thus God has represented it in his word — his word
which is the image of his mind, and which shows us how he
looks upon things, and how they really are. — See yohn iii. 16,
36 — Rom. v. 6, 7, 8 — I. jfohn iv. 10— £ph. i. 7, and ii. 7, 8, and
iii. 19— 3Iat. xviii. 11, &c.

Never, therefore, can a sinner rightly understand the gospel
of Christ, or see his need of the provision therein made, or in
any measure make a just estimate of the grace of God therein
displayed, until he is, in some measure, convinced and made re-
ally sensible, by the spirit of God, that he is actually in such a
sinful, guilty, helpless, undone condition. This, therefore, is

* Constituted sinners, it is in the original ; for it was by virtue of that
primitive cotisiituiiov with Adam, that his first sin laid ail his posterity u»-
der sin, guilt, and ruin.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 299

absolutely necessary, in order to a genuine compliance with the
gospel by faith in Jesus Christ. Ltiie v. 31....For the whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick : And as this is re-
quisite, in order to the first act of faith, so, for the same reason,
must we all our days live under a realizing sense of this our sin-
ful, guilty, undone state, by nature, and in ourselves, in order to
live by faith : And this will make Christ precious, and the grace
of the gospel precious — and effectually awaken us to gi-atitude
and thankfulness ; for now every thing in our circumstances,
wherein we arc better of it than the damned, will be accounted
so great a mercy, and the effect of mere gi"ace : And so far as
we are from a clear sight and realizing sense of this our sinful,
guilty, undone state, so far shall we be insensible of the precious-
ness of Christ, and the frecness of grace, and the gi'eatncss of
God's mercy towards us.

Thus, having considered the grounds upon which the most
liigh God did look upon mankind as being in a perishing condi-
tion, and the motives whereby he was excited to enter upon any
mediods for their recovery, we proceed now more particularly
to consider the ways and 7neans he has taken and used to bring
it about.

SECTION III.

CONCERNING THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF SATISFACTION

FOR SIN.

I am now,
III. To show what necessity there was for a Mediator, and
how the rvay to life has been opened by him whom God has pro-
vided. It is plainl}- supposed that there was a necessity of a
Mediator, and of such an one too as God has actually provided,
in order to our salvation ; for, othenvise, it had been no love or
goodness in God to have given his only begotten Son : For there
can be no love or goodness in his doing that for us which we
do not need, and without which we might have been saved as
well. Nor is it to be su;^posed that God would give his Son
to die for a guilty world without urgent necessity. If some
cheaper and easier way might have been found out, he would

300 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

surely have spared his beloved Son ; he had no inclination tor
make light of his Son's blood ; it was a great thing for a Gog
to become incarnate^ and die ; and there must, therefore, have
been some very urgent considerations, to induce the wise Gov-
ernor of the world to such an expedient : And here, then, these
things may be particularly enquired into :

1 . What necessity was there of satisfaction for sin ?

2. What satisfaction has there been made ? And wherein
does its sufficiency consist ?

3. How has the way to life been opened by the means ?

4. What methods has the great Governor of the world enter-
ed upon for the actual recovery of sinful creatures ?

1. We are to consider what necessity there was of satisfac-
tion for sin. It was needful, or else no satisfaction would have
been ever required or made : And the necessity was certainly
very great and urgent, or the Father would never have been
willing to have given his Son. or the Son to have undertaken;
the work. ...a work attended with so much labor and suffering;
But why was it necessary ? This, I think, will appear, if we de-
liberately and seriously weigh these things ;.

(1,) That God^ the great Creator^ Preserver^ and absohde
Lord of the whole xvorld^ is not ojily a Being of infinite under-
standing and almighty power, but also a Being infjiite and un-
changeable in all moral propensities : he loves right and hates
wrong to an infinite degree^ and unchangeably ; or, in scripture-
language, he thus loves righteousness and hates iniquity. By his
infinite understanding, he sees all things as being what they re-
ally are : Whatsoever is fit and right, he beholds as being such';
and whatsoever is unfit and wrong, he also beholds as being
such : And as are his views, so is the temper of his heart — he
infinitely loves that which is fit and right, and infinitely hates
that which is unfit and wrong : or, in other words, he has an
infinite sense ot the moral fitness and unfitness of things, and
an answerable frame of heart; i. e.infinitely loves the one, and
infinitely hates the other. From eternity, God has had an all-
comprehensive view of things. ...of every thing that was possi-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 301

ble to be or that actually would be....andof all the relations one
being would bear to another, and the relation that all would bear

to him and has seen what conduct would be right and fit in

liim towards them, and in them towards him and towards one
another, and what would be wrong : and, from eternity, it has
been his nature infinitely to love that which is right, and hate
that which is wrong ; And this, his nature, has influenced him
in all his conduct, as moral Governor of the world ; and he has
given so bright a representation of it, that this seen\s to be the
first and most natural idea of God that we can attain : It shines
through all the scriptures.... through the law and the gospel, and
thi-ough his whole conduct, in a thousand instances.

God does not appear to be a Being influenced, acted, and
governed by a groundless, arbitrary self-will, having no regard
to right reason. ...to the moral fitness and unfitness of things ;
nor does he appe:u" to be a Being governed and acted by a
groundless fondness to his creatures. If a thing is not right,

he will not do it, merely because he is above controul is the

greatest and strongest, and can bear down all before \\\\n.„.Gcn,
xviii. 25 : And if a thing is wi'ong, he will not connive at it at
all, because it was acted by his creatures, although ever so dear
to him, and although the most exalted in dignity, honor, and
privileges ; — for instance, the sinning a7igcls.., ..sinning Adam.,..
the Lsraclites in the wilderness, his peculiar people. Moses,
for speaking unadvisedly with his lips, shall not enter into Ca-
naan. David, the man after his own heart, he sinned ; and
the sxvord^ says God, shall not depart from thy house : Yea, he
spared not his orun Son^ when he stood in the room of sinners.
If he had been governed by any thing like human fondness, sure-
ly it would now have appeared : And besides, if that were the
case, he could never bear to see the damned lie in the dreadful
torments of hell to all eternity : Indectl, by all he has said, and
by all he has done, he appears to have an infinite sense of the
moral fitness and unfitness of things, and an answerable frame
of heart ; and to be governed and actuated by this temper, un-
der the direction of infinite wisdom : Hence, ;us is his nature^

302 • TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

SO is the name which he has taken to himself, viz. the HOLT ONE
ofhrael.

It is true he is a Being of infinite goodness and mercy ; yet
that is not 2ifond^ but a hohj propensity, under the government
of infinite wisdom : that is, he considers the happiness and good
of his creatures, his intelligent creatures, as being what it is. —
He sees what it is worth, and of how great importance it is ;
and how much to be desired, in itself, and compared with other
things : he sees it to be just what it really is, and has an an-
swerable disposition of heart, i. e. is desirous of their happi-
ness, and averse to their misery, in an exact proportion to the
real nature of the things in themselves. It is true, so great is
his benevolence, that there is not any act of kindness or grace
6o great, but that he can find in his heart to do it — yea, has
&n infinite inclination to do it, if, all things considered, in his un-
erring wisdom, he judges it fit and best : and yet, at the same
time, it is as true, such is the perfect rectitude and spotless pu-
rity of his nature, that there is not any act of justice so tremen-
dous, or any misery so dreadful, but that he can find in his
heart, his creatures' happiness notwithstanding, to do that act of
justice, and inflict that misery, if need so require — yea, he has
an infinite inclination thereto. He regards their happiness and
misery as being what they are, of very great importance in
themselves, but of little importance, compared with something
else. He had rather the whole system of intelligent creatures
should lie in hell to all eternitj^, than do the very least thing that
is in Itself unfit and wrong : Yea, if it was put to his own case,
if we could possibly suppose such a thing, he would make it ap-
pear that he does as he would be done by, when he punishes
sinners to all eternity. It was, in a sort, put to his own case
once, when his Son, who was as himself, stood in the room of
a guilty world — and his heart did not fail him ; but he appeared
as great an enemy to sin then as ever he did, or will do to all
eternity. His treating his Son as he did, in the garden and up-
on the cross, immediately himself and by his instruments, was
as bright an evidence of the temper of his heart, as if he had

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 303

damned the whole world. He appeared what he was then, as
much as he will at the day of judgment : He is infinite in good-
ness ; yet he is infinitely averse to do any act of kindness, at
the expence of justice, from mere fondness to his creatures.

And as his goodness is not fondness, so his justice is not cru-
thy. He infinitely hates that which is unfit and wrong, and is
disposed to testify his hatred in some visible, public manner,
by inflicting some proportionable punishment ; — not because sin-
ners hurt him, and so make him angry and revengeful ; for their
obedience can do him no good, nor their disobedience any hurt
....Job XXXV. 6, 7 ; — nor indeed so much because they hurt
themselves ; for if they did wrong in no other respect, he would
ne\'er treat them with such severity : but this is the truth of
the case — the great Governor of the world has an infinite sense
of the moral fitness and unfitness of things, and an answerable
frame of heart : and so he infinitely loves that which is fit, and
commends and rewards it ; and infinitely hates the contrary,
and forbids and punishes it ; — only it must be remembered, that
the rewards he grants to the good are of mere bounty as to
them, because they can deserve nothing.. ..i?ow?. xi. Z5. But
the punishments he inflicts on the '..ickedare pure justice, be-
cause they deserve -AX.. ..Rom. vi. 23 : For although creatures
cannot merit good 2^1 the hands of God, from whom they receive
all, and to whom they owe all, yet they can merit evil : Never-
theless, rewards and punishments are both alike in this respect,
viz. that they are visible public testimonies borne by the Gov-
ernor of the world to the moral amiableness of virtue on the
one hand, and to the moral hatefulness of vice on the other. —
The one is not the eflfect of fondness, nor the other of cruelly ;
but the one results from the holiness and goodness of the divine
nature, and the other from his holiness and justice. By the
one, it appears how he loves virtue, and how exceedingly boun-
tiful he is ; and, by the other, how he hates sin, and how much he
is disposed to discountenance it, by treating it asbcing what it is.
Thus, I say, in the first place, we must consider God, the su-
preme Governor of the world, as a Being not cnlv of infinite

301- TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

understanding and aln\ighty power, but also infinite andurt-
changeable in all moral propensities — as one having a perfect
sense of the moral fitness and unfitness of things, and an answer-
able frame of heart ; or, in scripture-language, Holy ^ holy ^holy^
Lord God Almighty. ...the holy one of Israel: The Lard God gra-
ciotis and tnerciful, but by no means clearing the guilty. ...OfpU'
rcr eyes than to behold iniquity.... TV lio loveth righteousness and
hateth iniquity.... Who renders to every one according to their do-
ings^ &c. Without a right idea of God, the supreme Gover-
nor of the world, and a realizing, living sense of him on our
hearts, it is impossible we should rightly understand the meth-
ods he has taken to open away for his mercy to come out after
a rebellious, guilty world, or truly see into the grounds of his
conduct — the reasons of his doing as he has done. If we know
God, and have a taste for moral beauty, we shall be in a dispo-
sition to understand the gospel ; but otherv/ise we shall not...,
John vii. 17, and viii. 47 : For, in the whole of this great affair
of our redemption, he has acted altogether like himself.

(2,) God is infinitely excellent^ glorious^ and amiable in being
xvhat he is. His having such a nature or temper, and, at the
same time, being of infinite understanding and almighty power,
renders him infinitely excellent, glorious, and amiable, far be-
yond the conceptions of any finite mind. Isa.v'i. 3. ...Holy, ho-
ly, holy. Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of thy glory.

Hence, God loves, esteems, and delights in himself iyifnitely :
not indeed from what we call a selfish spirit ; for could we sup-
pose there was another just what he is, and himself an inferior,
he would love, esteem, and delight in that other, as entirely as
he does now in himself: It is his being what he is, that is the
ground of his self-love, esteem, and delight.

Hence, again, he loves to act like himself, in all his conduct as
moral Governor of the world, as entirely as he loves himsef;
and it is as much cotitrary to his nature to counteract the temper
of his heart, in his public conduct, as to cease to be what he is :
And the plain reason is, that there is the same ground for the
one SIS for the other, lie loves himself, because he is most ex-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 305

oellcnt in being what he is ; and, for the same reason, he loves
to act Uke himself, because that is.most excellent too : He can-
not be willing to, cease to be of that temper or nature he is of,
because it is most excellent ; and, for the same reason, he can-
not be willing to counteract it, because it is most excellent to
act agreeably to it in all things : He is under necessity to lo\e
himself ; and he is under the same necessity to act like hi in-
self.. ..(ji.72. xviii. 25 : Hence it is a comnwn thing for God, in
great earnestness, to say in his word, / xuili do so and so^ and
t/icy shall Ksow that I am the Lord : as if he should say —
V A guilty, i-ebellious race may think and say what ihey will
'* of me, yet I am what I am, and I will act like myself, and all
" the world sh^U know tliat I am the I.nrd, i. e. that I am wlai\t
'* I pretend to be : They shall know It by my conduct, sooner
" or later,"

(3.) God cannot be said to act like himsc/f, unless he appeal's as
great an enemy to sin^ in his public government of the xvorld^ as
he really is at heart. If his conduct as moral Governor of tl.e
world, the whole being taken together, should look vvithamoie
favorable aspect towards sin, or appear less severe than really
he is, then it is self-evident that his conduct would not be like
himself, nor would, it tend to exhibit a true idea of him to all
attentive spccti\tors in all his dominions. If his creatures and
subjects, in such a case, should judge of his nature bv his con-
duct^ they would necessarily frame wrong nodcns of the divine
Ueiug: And he himself must see and know that he did not act
Uke himself ; nor appear, in hi.s contUict, to be what he Mas in
his heart.

But God, the supreme Governor of the vvoiid, da^^ti, at licr.rt,
look upon sin as an inliiiite < . il ; and his aversion iftd enaiity
to it is infmite. He looks upon it, and (to speak of hini aftt^r
tlie manner of men) is aftbcted towards it, as being what it re-
ally is. But it is infinitely wrong and wicked, lor us not to
love him with all our heart, and obey him in every thing : 1 iie
least sin is an infinite evil ; and such he sees it to l)e, and as
such does he abhor it. The infinite evil of sin does not consist

306 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

in its lessening God's essential glory or blessedness ; for they
are both independent on us, andfar outof our reach : nor does,
it consist merely in its tendency to make us miserable : But,
in its own nature, it is infinitely wrong, in as much as we are
under infinite obligations to perfect holiness. Our obligations
to love God with all our heart are in proportion to his amiable-
ness ; but that is infinite : not to do so, therefore, is infinitely
wrong. But, as has been said, God has an infinite sense of
the moral fitness and unfitness of things, and an answerable
frame of heart : i. e. he infinitely loves that which is right, and
infinitely hates that which is wrong : And therefore he infinite-
ly hates the least sin.

If, therefore, he acts like himself, he must, in his public gov-
ernment of the world, his whole conduct being taken together,
appear, in the most evident manner, to be an infinite enemy to
the least sin : He must appear infinitely severe against it ; and
never do any thing, which, all things considered, seems to look
at all with another aspect.

(4.) God^ the supreme Governor of the world ^ cannot he said
to appear an infinite enemy to sin^ and to appear injinitely se-
vere against it, and that without the least appearajice of a favora-
ble aspect towards it in his conduct, unless he does always, through-
out all his dominions, not only in word threaten, but in fact pun-
ish it^ with infinite severity, without the least mitigation or abate-
vient in any one instance whatsoever.

If he should never, in his government of the world, say or
do any thing against sin, it would seem as if he was a friend to
it, or at least very indifferent about it. If he should say, and
not do.... threaten to punish, but never inflict the punishment,
his creatufis and subjv^cts might he tempted to say, " He pre-
tends to be a mighty enemy to sin, and that is all," If he
should generally punish sin with infinite severity, but not al-
ways, there v;ould at least be some favorable aspect towards
sin, in his visible conduct ; and his subjects might be ready to
say, " If he can suffer sin to go half unpunished, why not alto-
" gether ? And if altogether at one time, why not at another ?

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 307

'> And if he can abate the threatened punishment in some de-
*' gree, in some instances, why not ahogcthcr, in all instances ?
" If there is no absolute necessity that sin should be punished,
" why does he ever punish it ? But if it be absolutely necessary,
*' why docs he ever suffer it to go unpunished ?" it would seem,
at least, by such a conduct, as if sin was not so exceedingly bad
a thing but that it might escape punishment sometimes — and
as if God was not such an infinite, unchangeable enemy to it,
but tliat he might be disposed to treat it with a little favor : — In
a word, if God should always punish sins, not one excepted,
and that throughout all his dominions, and yet not do it always
with injinitt' severity ; but, in some instances, one in a miiiion
we will say, should abate a little, and but a very little ; yet so
much as he abates, be it more or less, so much does he treat
sin in a favorable manner, and so much does he fall short of
treating it with due severity, and so iar does he appear, in his
conduct, from being an infinite, unchangeable enemy to it : So
that it is very evident that he cannot, in his conduct, as moral
Governor of the world, appear an infinite, unchangeable enemy
to sin, without the least appearance to ihe contrary', in any otli-
er possible way or method, than by always punishing it with in-
finite severity, without the least abatement, in anyone instance,
in any part oi his don^inions, in time or eternity. And this
would be to act like himself ; and in and by such conduct, he
would appear to be what he is. But to do otherwise, would
be to counteract his own nature, and give a false representation
of his heart, by a conduct unlike himself.

Thus, it is the nature of God, the great Governor of the
world, in all his conduct, to act like himself : But he cannot be
said to act like himseli, unless he a])pears as great an enemy to
sin, and as severe against it, as he reuliy is, wldiout die least
shadow of the conti-ary : but his conduct cannot appear in this
light, unless he does, in fact, punish sin with infinite severity,
throughout all his dominions, without the least mitigation, in
any one instance, in time or eternity : therefore it is the nature
of God, U\e Governor of the world, to do so ; and therefore he

308 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

can no sooner, nor anj*- easier, be willing to let any sin go un--
punished, than he can to cease to be what he is :* For, as was
before proved, it is as impossible for him to act contrary to his
own nature, as it is to cease to be what he is : and he can con-
sent to the one as easily as to the other.

Hence, we may learn, this is really a branch of the laiv ofna»
iurCy That sin should be punished : it results from the nature of
God, the Governor of the world ; it was no arbitrary constitu-
tion ; it did not result from the divine sovereignty. It would,
in the nature of things, have been no evil for Adam to have
eaten of the tree of knozvkdge^ had not God forbidden it ; here-
in God exercised his sovereign authority, as absolute I^ord of
ail things : But in threatening sin with eternal death, he acted
not as a sovereign, but as a righteous Governor : his nature
prompted him to do so ; he could not have done otherwise.
As it is said in another case. It is impossible for God to lie ; so
it may be said here. It is iynpossiblefor God to let sin go iinpun'-
ished. As he cannot go counter to himself in speaki)ig^ so nei-
ther in acting. It is as contrary to his nature to let sin go un-
punished, as it is to lie ; for his jtistice is as much himself, as
his truth ; and it is, therefore, equally impossible he should act
contrary to either.

Hence, tins branch of the law of nature is not capable of any^
repeal or abatement : For since it necessarily results from the
nature of God, the Governor of the world, it must necessarily
remain in force so long as God continues to be what he is.
Besides, if God should repeal it, he must not only counteract
his own nature, but also give great occasion to all his subjects
to think he was once too severe against sin, and that now he
had altered his mind, and was become more favorable towards
it : which he can no more be willing to do, than he can be wil-

* God's mild and kind conduct tov.-ards a guilty wcrld at present, is noth-
ing inconsistent with this ; because mankind are now dealt with in and
through a mediator, ur>on •whom our sins have been laid, and who has been
made a curse for us. In him our sins have been treated with infinite sever-
ity, without the least abatement. But for this, God's conduct, no doubt,
"wou'd be very inconsistent with his perfections.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 509

ling Jtctually to cease to be what he is : For, as he loves him-
self perfectly for being what he is, so he perfectly loves to act
like himself, and to appear in his conduct just as he is in his
heart : Therefore olh- Savior expressly asserts, That heaven
and earth shall pass axvat/^ but 7iot one jot or tittle of the law
shallfaiL...Mait. v. 18.

(5.) But all this notwithstanding^ yet God did, of his infinite
goodness and sovereign grace^ entertain designs of mercy towards
a fallen world.. ..a rebellious^ obstinate, stubborn, sinful^ gtdltyy
hell-deserving race, U7ider the righteous condemnation of the law
^...a law, like himself, holy, just, and good. Particularly, he de-
signed to declare himself reconcileable to this sinful, guilty world
,...to put mankind into a new state of probation. ...to try and see
if Uiey would repent and return unto him, and to use a variety
■of methods for their recovery : And to make way for this, he
designed to reprieve a guilty world, for a certain space of time,
from that utter ruin he had threatened, and to grant a sufficien-
cy of the good things of this life for their support, while in a
state of probation ; and he also purposed to grant a general re-
•sun'ection from the dead, that those who should return to him
and be reconciled might be most completely happy in the world
to come. And because he knew their aversion to a reconcilia-
tion, therefore he designed to use a variety of external mear.s
to bring them to it : And because he knew that mankind would
be universally disposed to hate all such means, Cnot Ming to
have God in their kiiowlcdgc), and car>t them off, and get from
imder them, therefore he designed, in his sovereign grace, to se-
lect some part of mankind, (the Jews for instance) with whom,
by his special providence. ..by the more open or secret workings
of liis almighty power, such means should be continued. And,
in the fulness of time, he purposed also to use equal, yea, great-
er means with various nations of the Gentiles : And because
he knew that all external means notv/uhstanuing, vet all, with
one consent, would refuse to repent, and convert, and be recon-
ciled, therefore he designed, by his providence, and by the mere
eommon influences of his spirit, to take some farther pains with

310 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

many, and trj'^ them : And because he knew that this would
never effectually persuade them, through the great pen-erseness
of mankind, therefore he designed, by the special influences
of his holy spirit, through his almighty power and all-conquer-
ing grace, all their obstinacy notwithstanding, yet to reclaim,
and recover, and bring home to himself, a certain number in
this world, and here train them up for eternal glory, and finally
bring them thereunto— and all of his sovereign goodness, and
all to the praise of the glory of his grace. And towards the
latter end of that space of time, in which this world was to be
reprieved, it was his purpose more eminently to destroy Satan'*
kingdom on earth and his influence among mankind, and more
generally recover the guilty nations from his thraldom, and set
up his own kingdom on earth, to flourish in great glory and
prosperity a thousand years : Such were his designs, as is evi-
dent by the event of things, and from the revelation he has made
in his word of what is yet to come to pass.

(6.) But as the case then stood^ it was not Jit that any of these
favors should be granted to a guilty -world ; no, not any thing
that had so much as Call things considered J the nature of a mer-
cy^ -without some su^cient salvo to the divine honor J* Indeed,
some kind of reprieve, I presume, might have been granted to
a guilty world, so as to have suffered the human race to have
propagated, and the whole designed number to have been bora
— a reprieve, all things considered, not of the nature of a mer-

* Ob J. But if God coiddnot, consistently viith his perfections, shew any mercy
to a gtu/ty nxorld zvithcui a sufficient salvo to his honor, ho-ui could he, consistently
•with his perfections, provide than a 'mediator ? Was not this a great inercy ?
And what salvo had he for bis honor in doing it ?

Ans. The very doing of this thing itself was to secure his own honor.
TViiswas the very end he had nextly in view. Were it not for this end,
a mediator had not been needful ; but a guilty world might have been par-
doned by an act of absolute sovereign grace. Now his taking such a glo-
rious method to secure his honor, and the honor of his law, and govern-
ment, and sacred authority, had no tendency to misrepresent thejii : He
acted in it just like himself. His infinite wisdom, holiness, justice, and
goodness, are all at once most perfectly displayed in this conduct of the
supreme Governor of the world ; particularly, his infinite hatred of sin,
and disposition to punish it, appeared in the very act of appointing his Son
to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world : For, in this act, it was manifest,
that he did choose his own dear Son should himself bear the punishment of
sin, rather than let at go unpunished.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALJ. COUNTERFEITS. 311

cy : So the fuUen angels seem to be under some kind of a re-
prieve ; for tlieti are reserved 1)1 chants^ to tiie judgment of the
grt;at day, as condemned prisoners.. ,11. Peter ii. 4. And hence,
a nvimher of them once cried out, Art thou come to tornxent us
before the time ?..,.Mat, viii. 29 : Yet we are not taught, in
scripture, to look upon this as a mercy to them. But the scrip-
tures teach us to consider our reprieve, ...our worldly comforts
....our means of grace.... our space for repentance... .the restraints
of providence, and the common influences of the spirit, as mer-
t;ies — ^yea, as great mercies.. ../?07w. ii. 4 — Isaiah v. 4 — D^ut*
X. 18 — Acts xiv. 17 — Rev. ii. 21. All these common favors,
therefore, as well as special and saving mercies, were not pro-
per to be granted to such a guilty, hell-deserving world, by a
hoi}-, sin-hating, sin-revenging God, This was not to treat
mankind as it was fit and meet they should lie treated : It was
contrary to law that any favor at all should, without a nalvo to
the divine iaonor, be granted them ; for, by law, they were all
doomed to destruction : And it was contrary to the divine na-
ture to do any thing in the case, that, all things considered,
would have, in the least measure, a favorable aspect towards
sin ; or so much as in the least tend to make him seem less se-
vere against it, than if he had diininedthe whole world for their
apostacy and rebellion.

If God had set aside his law, which was die image of his
heart, and undertaken and shown all these favors to a guilty
world, widiout pny salvolo his honor, his visible conduct would
have been directly contrary to the inward temper of his heart ;
and by it he would have counteracted his nature, and misrep-
resented himself, dishonored his law, rendered his authority
weak and contemptible, and opened a wide door for the encour-
agement of rebellion, throughout all his dominions — and, in
eftect, gotten to himself the character the devil designed to give
of him to our first parents, when he said, 7'c shall not surely
(hc^ (Gen. iii. 4) — i. e. " God is not so severe against sin as he
" pretends to be, and as you think for— nor does he hate it so
" much, nor will he do as he says in the case." It was there-
fore intinitel} impossible. R r

312 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

(7 J) To the endy therefore^ that a way might be opened for
him to put his designs of mercy in execution^ consistently with him-
self....consistently with the honor of his holiness and Justice, law
and government, and sacred authority, something must be done
by him in a public ma7iner, as it xvere,in the sight of all worlds^
xuhereby his infinite hatred of sin, and unchangeable resolution to
punish it, might be as effectually manifested as if he had damned
the whole xvorld. Merely his saying that he infinitely hates
sin, and looks upon it worthy of an infinite punishment, would
not have manifested the inward temper of his heart in such a
meridian brightness as if he had damned the whole world in
very deed : but rather, his saying one thing, and doing another
directly contrary, would have been going counter to himself ;
especially, considering him as acting in the capacity of a Gov'
ernor, to whom, by office, it belongs to put the law in execution,
and cause justice to take place : For him first to make a law,
threatening eterrtal death to the least sin, makes him appear in-
finitely just and holy ; but then to have no regard to that law
in his conduct, but go right contrary to it, without any salvo to
his honor, is quite inconsistent, and directly tends to bring him-
self, his law and authority, into the greatest contempt. Some-
thing, I say, therefore, must be done, to make his hatred of the
sin of mankind, and disposition to punish it, as manifest as if he
had damned the whole world; to the end that the honor of his
holiness and justice.. ..of his lav/ and government, and sacred
authority, might be effectually secured- To act contrary to
his own nature, was impossible. ...to have no regard to the hon-
or of his law and government, was unreasonable — a guilty world
had better all have been damned.

Thus, from the perfections of God, and from the nature of
the thing, we see the necessity there was that satisfaction should
be made for sin, in order to open an honorable way in whidi
divine mercy might come out after a rebellious, guilty, hell-de-
serving world.

To conclude this head, the necessity of satisfaction for sin
seems also to be held forth in the scriptures, and to be implied

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 313

in God's conduct in this affair. In the Old Testament, the ne-
cessity of an atonement for sin was taught in t\pes and figures.
The man that sinned was to bring his offering before the Lord,
and lay his hands upon it, and confess his sin over it — and so,
as it were, transfer his sin and guilt to it j then was it to be
slain, (for death is the wages of sin J and burnt upon the altar,
(for the sinner deserves to be consumed in the fire of God's
wrath), and the blood thereof was to be sprinkled round about,
(for without shedding of blood there is no remission) — nor was
there any other way of obtaining pardon prescribed but this,
which naturally taught the necessity of satisfaction for sin, and
led the pious Jews to some general notion of the great atone-
ment which God would provide, and to a cordial reliance there-
on for acceptance in the sight oi GoA».,.Lev. iv, and xvi — Heb,
ix. But, in the New Testament, the nature and necessity of
satisfaction for sin, and the impossibility of finding acceptance
with God, unless through the atonement of Christ, is taught in
language very plain and express ; particularly in the third chap-
ter of the epistle to the Romans. St. Paul having proved both
Jexvs and Greeks to be under sin^ and all the world to be guilty
before GodyUnd that every mouth must be stopped^ in iha first and
second chapters^ and in the beginning of the third^ does, in the
next place^ enter upon, and begin to explain the way of salva-
tion, by free grace, through Jesus Christ : — " We cannot," says
he, " be justified by the deeds of the law, {Chap, iii. 20), but
" it must be freely by grace through the redemption that is in
*' Jesus Christ, {yer. 24) : But if we are not justified by the
*' deeds of the law.. ..by our own obedience, how will God, our
*' Judge, appear to be righteous ? If the law condemns us, and
" yet he justifies us, i. e. if he thus proceeds contrary to law, to
*' clear and approve when that condemns, how will he appear
"to be a just and upright Ciovenior and Judge, who, loving
" righteousness and hating iniquity, is disposed always to ren-
" der to every one his due ?....Why, there is a way contrived,
" wherein the righteousness of God is manifested in our justi-
♦' fication without the law's being obeyed by us.. ..a way unto

314 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

^' which the types of the law and predictions of the prophets
*' did all bear witness. ...a way in which the righteousness of
*' God is manifested in and by Christ, (ver^, 21,22) ; But how ?
*' Why, God halh set him forth to be a propitiation, to dedarr
*' his righteousness for the remission of sins that arepast^ through
*' the forbearance of God — to declare^ J say, at this time jhis right-
" eousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him
*' which believeth in fesus.'''' The apostle seems evidently to
suppose that God could not have been just, had he not thus de-
clared his righteousness ; and that he actually took this meth-
od to declare and manifest his righteousness, to the end he might
be just.,..xm^cit act agreeably to his nature, the original stand-
ard of justice, and to his law, which is the transcript of his na-
ture, and the established rule of righteousness between him our
Governor, and us his subjectsi He set forth his Son to be a
propitiationfor the remission of sin^ to declare his righteousnessy
that he might be just, and the justifier-, &ci

Besides, The necessity of satisfaction for sin, and that even
by the death of Christ, seems to be implied in our Savior's pray-
er in the garden, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nev-
ertheless, not as I will, but as thou Tw7^...Mati xxvi. 39 : And
again, (ver. 42.) 0, my father, if this cup may not pass axvayfrom
me, except I drink it, thy will be done — As if Christ had said,
" If it be possible thy designs of mercy might be put into execu-
" tion, and poor sinners saved, consistently with thine honor,
" without my drinking this cup, O that it might be ; but if it
*' is not possible it should be so, I consents" Satisfaction for Sin
being necessary, and there being lio easier wa)' in which satis-
faction for sin might be made, and a door opened for mercy to
come to a guilty world, consistently with the divine honot-, seems
to have been the very ground of the Father's willing him, and
of Christ's consenting to drink that cup : And, indeed, is it
possible to conceive why Christ should be willing to suffer
what he did, or why his Father should desire it, were it not an
expedient absolutely necessary, and nothing else would do, so
that it must be^ or not one of the race of Adam be ever saved.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 315

consistently with the divine honor ? If it was not so absolute-
ly necessary — if there was some cheaper and easier \f ay that
would have done, why did the Father will this ? or how had
Christ a sufficient call to undertake it ? or, indeed, what need
was there for him to undertake ? or what good would it do ?
If sin was not, in very deed, so bad a thing that it could not be
pardoned without such a satisfaction, why was such a satisfac-
tion insisted upon .''....why a greater satisfaction than was need-
ful ? Could a holy and wise God set so light bv the blood of
his dear Son, as to desire it to be shed without the most urgent
necessity i Or why slK)uld the Governor of the world make
more ado than was neci;ssary, and then magnify his love in giv-
ing his Son, when mankind might have been saved without it ?
Did this become the great Governor of the world ? or would
God have us look upon his conduct in such a light ?..»Surely no :
Verily, therefore, such was the case ot a rebellious, guilty world,
that God looked upon them too bad to be released, consistent*
ly with the divine honor, from the threatened destruction, un-
less such a mediator should interpose, and such a satisfaction
for sin be made ; aiid therefore Christ acquiesced in his will, as
being wise, holy, just, and good. And this being supposed,
the love of God, in giving his Son, appears even such as it is
represented to be — unparalleled, unspeakable, inconceivable ;
KO, also, does the love of Christ in undertaking : And thus,
from the perfections of God, and from the scriptures, and from
(jod's conduct in this aflair, it appears that a full satisfaction for
sin was necessaiy, in order to its being pardoned, or any fa^or
shown to a guilty world, consistently with the divine honor*

And if we, in very deed, did stand in such need, such an ab-
solute, perishing need of a mediator, as this comes to — if God
looked upon things in such a light, then nmst we see this ouv
need of a mediator, and look iipon things in this light too, and
have a sense of this great truth upon our hearts : for, other-
wise, wc neither truly underslanil what a state we arc in, nor
what need we have of a mediator^ And if we do not trul\- un-
derstand what a slate we are in, nor our need of the mediator

316 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

God has provided, how can we be in a disposition to receive
him as he is offered in the gospel, and truly and understand-
jngly to rely upon him, his death and sufFerings....his worth
and merits.... his mediation and intercession, as the gospel in-
vites us to do ?

To see our need of Christ to be our atonement.. ..to see our
need of his propitiatory sacrifice to open the way for the Gov-
ernor of the world to be reconciled to us consistently with his
honor, is a very different thing from what many imagine. Some
fancy they want Christ to purchase an abatement of the law, and
satisfv for their imperfections ; and then they hope to procure
the divine favor by their own goodness. Some trust in Christ
and the free grace of God through him, as they think, and yet,
at the same time-, look upon God as obliged, in justice, to save
them, if they do as well as they can. Some, who lay not so
high a clttim to the divine favor, yet, by their tears and prayers,
hope to move the compassions of God, and, by their fair prom*
ises, to engage his favor, and would secretly think it hard, if, af-
ter all, God should cast them off ; and yet. they pretend to see
their need of Christ, and to trust in him : But these are all ev-
idently so far from seeing their need of Christ, that, in the tem-
per and exercises of their hearts, they implicitly and practically
deny any need of him at all ; to their own sense, they are good
enough to be accepted in the sight of God, upon their own ac-
count....i?o«?. X. 3. Others, who have had great awakenings
and convictions, and see much of their own badness, and do,
in a sort, renounce their own righteousness.. ..they look to be
saved by free grace ; but, in all the exercises of their hearts, see
no need of a mediator, and have nothing to do with him : they
see no reason why they may not be pitied and saved by free
grace, without any respect to the atonement of Christ : They
do not understand that they are so bad that it would be a re-
proach to the Governor of the world to show them mercy, oth-
erwise than through a mediator. Othei-s, again, who talk much
of Christ, andof faith, and of living by faith, and cry down
woi-ks, and think themselves most evangelical, yet, after all, oJi-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 317

Itf believe that Christ died for them in particular ^ and that they
shall be saved : this is their faith^ and this their trusting in
Christ ; whereby it is evident, they never truly saw their need
of Christ, nor have they any respect to him under the proper
character of a Mediator : But then do persons see their need
of Christ, when, from a sense of what they are, and of what
God is, they are convinced that they are too bad to be pardoned
and accepted — so bad that any thing short of damnation is too
good for them ; so that it would be inconsistent with the di-
vine perfections, and to the reproach of the great Governor of
the world, to show them any favor without some sufficient sal-
vo to his honor : Now they see their need of Christ, and are
prepared to exercise faith in his blood, (to use the apostle*s
phrase. ../?!J/;z. ill. 23,) and not till now : for men cannot be
said to see their need of Christ and his atonement, unless they
see that in their case which renders his atonement needful ;
but its being inconsistent with the divine perfections, and to
the dishonor of God, to pardon sin without satisfaction, was
that which made an atonement needful: Therefore sin-
ners must see their case to be such as that it would be inconsis-
tent with the divine perfections, and to the dishonor of
God, to grant them pardon without satisfaction for their sins,
in order to see tlieir need of Christ and of his atonement.
When they see their case to be such, then they begin to see
things as they are — to view them in the same light that God does
— to perceive upon what groinids, and for what reasons, a me-
diator was necessary, and why and upon what accounts they
want one ; and hereby a foundation is hiid for them, undcr-
standingly, to have a fidutial recourse to that Mediator which
God has provided, that, through him, consistently with the di-
vine perfections, thev may be received to favor . and so, from
Christ, the Mediator, and from the free grace of God through
him, do they take all their encouragement to come to God, in
hopes of pardon and acceptance, and eternal life : And thus they
look to be justifcd bij free grace through the redemption that is
til fesus Christy which is what the gospel intends and proposes

318 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

.,..Rom, iii, 24 : And from an increasing sense of their unwor-
thiness and ill deserts, they, through the course of their lives,
more and more, grow up into a disposition to live the life they
live in the f.esh^ by faith in the Son ofGod^ always having res^:
pect to him as their great high-priest, m all their approaches t6)
the mercy-seat, having access to God by him, who has styled him-
self the door of the sheep, and the way to the Father, which iS'
the very thing the gospel proposes, and invites and encourages
us unto, Heb. ix. 12. ...By his own blood he entered into the ho-
ly place, hsivmg obtained eterjial redemption for us : Ver. 24....
Into heaven itsef, to appear in the presence of God for us : Heb.
X. 19 — 22.. ..Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of yesus, by a new and living -way which he
hath consecrated for us — rand having an high-priest over the house
of God, let us draxu near zvith a true heart, in full assurance of
faith, Rom. iii. 25. ...For him hath God set forth to be a pro-
pitiation for sin, to declare his righteousness, that he might be
just. Sec,

And a clear, realizing sense of these things on our hearts will
lay a foundation for us to see how the gospel-way of salvation
is calculated to bring much glory to God, and abase sinners in
the very dust, which is that wherein the glory of the gospel very
much consists.. ../?(3?n. iii. 27 — Eph. i. 3 — 12. And we shall
learn to rejoice to see God alone exalted, and freely to take our
proper place, and lie down in the dust, abased before the Lord
forever : And indeed it is perfectly fit, in this case, that the rebel-
wretch should come down, and be so far from finding fault with
the great Governor of the world, and with his holy, just, and
good law, that he should rejoice that God has taken such an ef-
fectual method to secure his own honor, and the honor of his
law. yVc ought to be glad with all our hearts that the supreme
Governor of the world did put on state, and stand for his hon-
or, and the honor of his law, without the least abatement ; and
did insist upon it that sin should be punished.... the sinner hum-
bled, and grace glorified ; — these were things of the greatest im-
portance : and we ought to choose to be saved in such a way.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 319

to hcive God honored, and ourselves humbled : And it is evi-
dent this must be the temper of every one that comes into a
genuine compliance with the gospel : Thus much concerning
the necessity of satisfaction for sin. But here, now, some
may be ready to enquire,

Was- it not as necessary that the precepts of the laxu should be
obeyed^ as that the penally should be suffered, to make xoay for
the sinner not only to be pardoned^ but also to be received to a state
of favor ^ and entitled to eternal Ufc ? — To which I answer,

1. It is true, we need not only a pardon from the hands of
God, the; supreme Governor of the world, in whose sight, and
against whom we have sinned ; — we need, I say, not only to be
pardoned. ...delivered from condemnation.. ..freed from the
curse of the law.. ..saved from hell ; but we want something
further : We want to be renewed to God's image.... taken into
his family.. ..put among his chilcb'en, and made partakers of his
everlasting favor and love : We need not only to be delivered
from all those evils which are come upon us, and >\ hich we are
exposed unto, through our apostacy from God ; but we w ant
to be restored to the enjoymentof all that ^^i'S^ which we should
have had, had we kept the covenant of our God.

2. It is true, also, that mankind, according to the tenor of the
first covenant, were not to have been confirmed in a state of
holiness and happiness — were not to have had eternal life, mere-
ly upon the condition of being innocent, (for such was Adam
by creation), but perfect obedience to every precept of the di-
vine law was required. .../?c/w. x. 5 — Gal. iii. 10. The periorm-
ance of such an obedience, was that righteousness which was,
by covenant, to entide him to life.

3. Since the fall, all mankind are destitute of that righteous-
ness — nor can they attain unto \\.,...Rom. iii. 0 — 20.

4. But our natural obligations to love God with all our hearts,
and obey him in every thing, still remain : for they are, in
their own nature, unalterable : They will be forever the same,
so long as God remains what he is, and we are his creatures.
There was the same reason, th< refore, after the fall, M'hy we

220 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

should love and obey God, as ever there was : There was the
same reason, therefore, that the condition of the first covenant
should be fulfilled, as ever there was : It was reasonable, ori-
glnaily, or God would never have insisted upon it : and there-
fore it is reasonable now, since our apostacy ; and God has the
same gt'ounds to insist upon it forever : but we cannot perform
it ourselves ; it was necessary, then-efore, that it should be per-
formed b}' Christ, our siirety. But perhaps some may still say,
IV/ien Christ had fully satisfied for all our sins^ and so opened
a way for believers to be considered as entirely free from any
guilty zuhy might not the Governor of the xvorld now, of his sove-
reign goodness and bounty^ have bestowed eternal life^ without
miy more to do ? What need was there for Christ to fulfil all
rip-hteousness in our toom 7 — To which I answer —

When Adam was newly created, he was innocent... free from
any guilt ; and why might not the supreme Governor of the
world, now, without any more to do, have bestowed upon him
eternal life and blessedness, ot his mere sovereign goodness ?
What need was there that his everlasting welfare should be
entirely suspended upon the uncertain condition of his good
behavior ? Had not God just seen how it turned out with the
angels that sinned ? Did he not know that Adam was liable to
sin and undo himself too ? And why would he run any venture
a second time ; especially, since the happiness, not only of
Adam, but of all his race, a whole world of beings, now lay at
stake ? If he thinks that if but one man should gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul, his loss would be infinitely great,
what must the everlasting welfare of a whole race be worth in
his account ? And would infinite wisdom and infinite goodness
venture and hazard all this, needlessly ? Yea, v/ould such a Be-
ing have done so, had there not been reasons of infinite rveight
to move him to it — something of greater importance than the
eternal welfare of all mankind ? No doubt there was something,
and something of very great importance, that influenced the
infinitely wise and good Governor of the world to such a con-
duct— something- so very great, as to render his conduct, is

1

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFR1T3. 321

that affiiir, perfectly holy and wise.... perfectly beautiful, excel-
lent, and glorious. It does not look like a mere arbitrary con-
stitution. It was doubtless ordered so, because God saw it
was perfectly fit, and right, and best. But why was it fit, and
right, and best ? Whatever the reason was, doubtless, for the
same reason, it was fit, and right, and best, that the second Adam
should perform the same condition.. ..fulfil all righteousness, to
the end that, by his obedience, we might be made righteous,
ami so be entitled to life in this way.

It is certain that eternal life and blessedness were not to have
been given absolutdij^ \. o. wiihout any condition at all, under
the first covenant. Eternal life was not to have been granted
merely under the notion of a^//f, ivom2i sovereign benefactor ;
but also under the notion of a rczvfird, from the hands of the
moral Governor of the world. Perfect obedience was tjie con-
dition : Do and ii-je... .Horn. x. 5 : Dhobey and d:e....G3\. iii.
10. This was est.Volished b)^ the law of the God of Heaven.

Now, the supreme Governor of the world did this for
some end, or for no end : — not for no end ; for that would
reflect upon his wisdom. Was it for his own good^ or his crea-
tures' good? — Not for his own good ; for he is self-suiiicient
and independent : — not for his creatures' good ; for it had been
better for them, their interest simply considered, to have had
eternal life and blessedness given absolutely and unconditional-
ly ; for then they would have been at no uncertainties. ...not ii-
aijle to fall into sin or misery, but secure and safe forever. It
remains, therefore, thiit, as moral Governor of the vvorld, he
had an eye to the moral fitness of things, and so ordained, be-
cause, in itself, in its own nature, it was fit and right.

But why was it fit and right ? i. e. What grounds and reasons
were there, in the nature of the case, why the great Governor
of the world should suspend the everlasting weil'are of his crea-
ture, man, upon condition of his being in most perfect su!)jec-
tion to himself ? i. e. Why should he so much stand upon his
owa honor, ns to insist upon this homage, at the hazard of his
creatures' everlasting welfare ? i. e. Why did he look upon his

322 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

own honoi- as a matter of so great importance ? — I answer, that,
from the rectitude of the divine nature, he is perfectly impar-^
tial in all his conduct. It was not, therefore, from any thing
like pride, or a selfish spirit, that he stood thus upon his
honor ; the homage of a worm of the dust could do him no
good : — nor for want of goodness, that he set so light by his crea-
tures' happiness ; but it was fit he should do as he did — the
rectitude of his nature, as it were, obliged him to it: For it
becomes the Governor of the world, and it belongs to his office
as such, to see to it, that every one has his proper due ; and
therefore it concerns him, first and above all things, to assert
and maintain the rights of the God-head : and this honor was
due to God.

He was, by nature, God, and Adam v/as, by nature, man ;
he was the Creator, and Adam was his creature ; he was mo-
ral Governor of the world, and Adam was his subject ; he was,
by right, Law-giver, and Adam was a free agent, capable of,
and bound unto perfect obedience ; he was Judge, to whom it
belonged to distribute rewards and punishments, and Adam
was an accountable creature. Now he only considered him-
self as being what he was, and his creature, man, as being what
he was ; and he was affected and acted accordingly. He con-
sidered what honor was due to him from man — what obliga-
tions man was under to give him his due — that he was capable
of doing it voluntarily — that it was fit he should — that it be-
came the Governor of the world to insist upon it — that if he
did not do it with all his heart, he could not be considered as
a subject fit for the divine favor, but fit only for divine wrath.
He thus viewed things as they were, and acted accordingly :
What he did, therefore, was perfectly right and fit. To have
had no regard to his honor, but only to have consulted his crea-
tures' welfare, would have been a conduct like theirs in Rom.
i. 21, 25, ...They glorified him not as God : — Thei/ worshipped
cud served the creature, more than the Creator.*

* How God's putting Adani into a state of <ria/ was consistent with his
jiiming naerely at his happiness as his last end, I cannot understand : Sure

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 32^

Now, since the second Adam becomes surety, and stands res-
ponsible to the Governor of the world, it was fit he should not
only suffer the penalty of the broken law, but obey its precepts
too, in order to open a door for us not only to be pardoned, but
also received to favor,and entided to eternal life. Ihcre was
the same reason the second Adam should do it, as that ihcjirst
should... .The honor of God did as much require it : It was as
needful in order to our being considered as subjects fit for the
divine favor and eternal life : It became the Governor of the
world as much to stand for his honor with one as with the oth-
er ; and he had as good reason to suspend the e\crlasting wel-
fare of mankind upon this condition now, as ever : and to have
shown no concern for tiie divine honor, although God had been
openl\- aifronted and despised by man's apostacy, but only to
have regarded and consulted the welfare of the rebel under
righteous condemnation, had been a conduct evidendy unbe-
coming the great Govcnior of the world.

But again, we may view the casein another point ©flight :—
According to the first covenant, eternal life and blessedness
were not to have been granted merely under the notion oivigift^
from a sovereign Benefactor ; but also under the notion of a re-
Tt-'or^/ from God, as moral Governor of the world — and perfect
obedience was the condition. Do and live : — And while eter-
nal life and blessednesss were thus promised, by wayof/\.zi.cv;-t/

I am, it must have been better, unspeakably better, for Adam, his interest
oiUy considered, to have been immediately coiijinned in a state of perfect
holiness and happiness, without running such an awful venture of ctenial
ruin and destruction : Nor is there any man on earth that would choose,
merelv out of regard to his own welfare, to be put into a state of trial,
rather than into a state of confirmed holiness and hapjiiness, such as the
saints in heaven are r.nv in : and, therefore, 1 cannot but think that God
had a greater regard to something else, than to Adam's happiness. In
this ins'.ance, it seems \>W\n, from fact, that God does not make his crea-
tures' happiness his last end. It is in vain to plead, " that Adam could
" not be a moral agent, unless he was zfrcc agcit — nor z fret agent without
" being liable xo sin;" for the saints in heaven are moral agents, 3.ndfree
agents xoo, and yet are not //flA/e to sin : And if God's putting his creatures
into a state of trial is not consistent with his aiming merely at their hap-
piness as his last end, then the whole tenor of God's moral government is
not consistent therewith : for, from first to last, it has been his way to
j)ut his creatures into a state of trial ; even all his creatures who were ca-
pable of mojal government.

1

324 TRUE RXLIGION DELINEATED, AND

to virtue^ God's infinite love thereto was hereby testified, and
the teniper of his heart acted out and displayed. But God in-
finitely loves to act like himself : — On this consideration, there-
fore, it was necessary that the second Adam should fulfil all
righteousness, in the room of a guilty, unholy world, to the end
that the Governor of the world might bestov/ grace, and glory,
and all good things upon sinners, as a rezvard to Chriot's virtue,
and so hereby testify his infinite love to virtue : Aiid so itill act
like himself. It was God's sovereign pleasure to exercise his
infinite goodness towards a ruined race, and his holy nature
prompted hiiii to choose this way ; for he al\Tavs takes infinite
delight in shov*'ing regard and respect to virtue^ in his moral
government of the v%'or;d. He translated Enoch and Elijah....
saved Noali from the general deluge.. ..delivered Lot out of
Sodom.. ..promised Abraham a posterity numerous as the stars
of heaven, audPbiueas aii everlasting priesthood. ....and a dious-
and things moi^e has he done — and all to bear a public tcstimo->
ny of his love to virtue ; — this is the thing which the King dc'
lights to honor. The very ground of his love to himself, is the
virtue or holiness of his nature : — In this, his divine beauty and
glory primarily consists.. ..iia/V//i vi. 3. He loves, therefore,
to put hoaor upon the image of himself; and, in doing so, he
still reflects honor upon himself, the oi'iginal fountain of moral
excellence : and, therefore, according to ihtfrst covenant^ and
according to the second, it was equally fit that eternal life and
blessedness should be given as a reiuard to vii-tue^ in testimony
of his regard thereto..

Thus, fi'ora the perfections of God, and the reason and na-
ture of things, the necessity of Christ's obeving the preceptive
part of the law, as v/ell as suffering the penalty, in oi'der to our
being not only pardoned, but received to the everlasting favor
of God, and entitled to eternal life, seems evident.

But, from scripture^ the point may more easily be confirmed :
For therein we are taught that he was appointed, by the Gov-
ernor of the world, not only to ynake reconciliation for iniquity^
but also to bring in everlasting righteousness. ...Ti^x^. ix. 24 —

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFj;iTS. 325

And are assured that he is become the end of^helcrw for r/ght-
eousness to thevi that he/icvc... Rom. x. 4 — And that, hi/ his obe-
dience^ many are made righteous.... Rom. v. 19. But this work
would not have been put upon him, had it been needless ; i. e.
if God's honor and our salvation could both have been secured
without it; for then it had been in vain : — which to suppose, re-
flects much upon the divine wisdom, and quite undermines and
nullifies the love, and grace, and kindness of God herein to us ;
for we had been as well without it. "With much evidence, there-
fore, may we conclude that it was necessary that the seco7id Ad-
am, Christ our surety, should olj-ey as well as suffer in our room,
in order to open a door for our justification and eternal life :
And, accordingly, we may observe that the favors shown to a
sinful, gulk}- woi Id, on Christ's account, are, in scripture, prom-
ised under the notion of a rexvard to Christ's r/r/w^ / for, upon
making his soul an offering for sin, which was the highest act of
virtue, it was promised that he should see his seed. ...prolong his
days... .have the pleasure of the Lord prospering in his hands —
and that he should see the travail of his soid, ^nd justify maiiy....
Isaiah liii. 10, 11, 12.

Therefore, in order to a genuine compriance with the gos-
pel by faith in Jesus Christ, we must see how far we are from
righteousness — that all our seeming righteousness is as filthy
rags — that we have nothing to recommend us to God — that
there is nothing in us rendering us ft to be beloved by bim, cr
vieet to receive any favor at his hands, but (tytvy thing to tht
contrary, to the end we may see our need of Christ.. ..of Christ,
to be made of God unto us, righteousness, (I, Cor. i. 30) and
our necessity of being found in him, having on his right-
eoustiess, (Phil. iii. 9) : for this is the desigm of the gospel,
tol)ring us to look to be accepted whh God only in. his beloved^
(Eph i. 6 — I. Peter ii. .>) ; and to be justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, (Itiom,
iii. 24) without the deeds of the law, (ver. 28) ; ourselves be-
ing considered as being, in ourselves, ungodly. ...(Chap. iv.
ver. 5.)

326 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

And under a sense how far we are from righteousness... .that
tve have, after all the attainments of this life, no righteousness
fit to be mentioned before God. ...nothing fit to recommend us
to his favor, but are sxill, in ourselves, infinitely unworthy of his
love, or the least favor from him ; — I say, under a deep, effec-
tual sense of this, we must live all our days, to the end that we
may never venture to come before God, as the Pharisee did,
emboldened by our own goodness, but always as the chief of
sinners, desiring to he. found only in Christ, not having on our
OWJi righteousness, but the righteousness which is of God by faith ;
and so hereby be influenced to live the life we live i?i the fleshy
by faith on the Son ofGod^ as St. Paul iilways did, and as the gos-
pel would have all others do.... I. Tim. i. 15 — Phil. iii. 9 — Gal.
ii. 20, and iii. 11.

To conclude — Thus, we see the grounds of the necessity
there was for a mediator and redeemer, to make satisfaction for
sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness ; and so open an
honorable way for mercy to come out after a rebellious, guilty
world — and a way in which sinners may, with safely^ return
to God.

SECTION IV.

CONCERNING THE SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST, AND OF HIS SAT-
ISFACTION AND MERITS. i

I proceed now to consider,

2. What has been done to make satisfaction for sin., and to an-
swer the demands of the preceptive part of the law ; andwherC'
in the su^ciency of the same consists. And,

In the first place, what has been done has been already hint-
ed ; and it may be summed up in a few words : It compre-
hends all that Christ has done and suffered., in his life and at his
death : For us he v/as born — for us he lived — for us he died ;
He did all on our account .^ht'mg thereunto appointed by his Fa-
ther. But because his obedience and sufferings were most emi-
nent and remarkable, when, according to the command he had
received of his Father, he laid down his life for us, and offered
himself a sacrifice for our sins ; and because, v/ith a view to

1

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERrEITS, 227

this, he became Jiesh^ and dwelt among us, therefore the scrip-
tures do more frequently attribute our redemption to what was
done then. Hence, we are said to be redeemed by hin blood.....

I. Peter i. 18, 19 To ht jii^tijitd by his blcod.. ..Kom. v. 9 :

And all spiritual blessings are frequently represented as the
fruits and effects of his death. ...Gvl\. iii. 13, 14. The sacrifices
of the Old Testament pointed out this as the great atonement :
And to this the penmen of the New Testament seem, in a spe-
cial manner, to have their eyes, as the great propitiation for sin.
Thus the first Adam was to have yielded a perfect obedience
to the divine law in every thing ; but that special prohibition,
touching the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was in a pe-
culiar manner to tr)' him, that it might be seen whether he would
be in subjection to God in every thing : So, in the garden and
upon the cross, our Savior's spirit of obedience was tried and
discovered, and his obedience was perfected and his sufferings
completed ; and so here, in a more eminent manner, the law
was honored, and justice satisfied — and so the door of mercy
opened for a sinful, guilty world. But,

Secondly. As to the siifficiency of what has been done to
answer the ends proposed, let these things be considered :

(1.) That the person undertaking, as mediator and redeem*
«r, was of sufficient dignity and worth.

(2.) That he was sufficiently authorized to act in such a
capacity.

(3.) That what he has done is perfectly suited, in its own
nature, to answer all the ends proposed.

(1.) Jesus Christy the mediator between God and man^ as to
/lis person, was fit Jbr the mediatorial o^ce and work. He
was of sufficient dignity and worth — being, by nature, Goo....
equal with the Father. ...the brightness of his glory, ...the express
image of his person. ...Vh\\. ii. — Heb. i. He was God, (John i.
1,) as well as man, (ver. 14) — And therefore his blood was con-
sidered and valued as being the blood of God, (Acts xx. 28)—
And hence it is cdlX&d precious blood, (I. Peter i. 18, 19.) As

to his person, he was equal with God the Father in point of

T T

328 TKUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

worth and dignity : and it was as much for him to obey and
die in the room of a guilty world, as it would have been for Gorf
the Father himself. In point of dignity and worth, there was
none superior to him : He was upon a level with God the Fath-
er : He was his equal ^auljclhw. Zech. xiii. 7...,Axvake^ O
sivord^ against the man that is my tellow : He was a$ glori-
ous....as honorable. ...as .Dvsiy : He was, therefore, fit for the
office. ...able to answer all the euas of God, the Governor of the
world — of his holiness and justice, law and government, and
perfectly to secure the divine honor, viewed in every point of
light. The i ifinice dignit)^ of his nn.ture, as God, made him ca-
pable of an obedience of infin'te moral excellence, and capable
of making a ful' satisfaction for t'le infinite evil of sin : He could
magnify the law, ar.d make it honorable in a more illustrious
manner than all the angels in heaven and men on earth put to-
gether ; by how much he was more excellent than they all. If
the Son of God obey ^nd die, it is enough : God and his law
are forever secure. Thus, his being, by nature, God, render-
ed him of sufficient dignity for the office and work of a media-
tor.... Zf(?^.ix. 14.

And tiiis it was, also, which made him capable of underta-
king : As he was God^ he was under no obligations, on his own
account, to obev r. law made for a creaiure — and he had an ab-
solute right to hinself. Ever}'^ person, that is a me:® creature,
is under natural obligations to perferv o.oedier;ce on his own ac-
count— nor is he his ovn to dispose of; Buc the Son of God
was above a mere creatui-e ; — hewas adinne person, ard, pre-
vious to his und.rtti.ing, was jnder no obligation io obedience ;
— ^he had an cri^'nair'ght to iilmrelf, and v/as not, by natui-e,
under the law ; he was, therefo .;, at hii own disposal, and at
full liberty to undertake 1p our room : He haci power to assume
human nature, and be made vmder the law for us, pnd obey for
us, and suffer for us ; for he i^. ight do what he would with his
own. ...John x. \7y 18. The sufficiency of Christ being thus
originally founded in his divinity — hence, xhii:. is the first thing
ihe apostle to the Hebrews insists upon, in' order to explain,

\

OISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrElTS. 329

clear up, and confirm the safety of the waj'of salvation through
his blood.. ..//(?^. i. To clear up and connrm the sufet)^ of the
way of salvation, through the blood of Christ, is evidently the
scope and design of that cpisUe, as is manifest from the ten first
Chapters ; — particularly see Chapter x. ver. 19 — 22. And in
order to show the safctj- of this way, he insists upon the excel-
lency of his person, ajnd tlie nature of his office. ...his being call-
ed, appointed, and authorized, and his actually going through
the work of our redemption — which, together with some occa-
sional exhortations, digressions, &c. is the substance of his dis-
course, from Chap. i. ver. 1, to Chap.x. ver. 23.

Thus, as God, he was of infinite dignity and worth — as God,
he was at liberty to undertake.. He had an estate (if I may
so speak) of his own, and could pay the debt of another with
what v.as his own, and purchase for us an inheritance : And I
may add, that, as he was the Son of God^ the second person in
the trinity, there was a suitableness that he, rather than either
of the other pei^sons, should be appointed to this v.'ork. The
Father sustains the characterof supreme Lord and Governor....
asserts the rights of the God-head. ...maintains the honor of his
law and government : The So7i becomes mediator between
God and man, to open a door for God to show mercy to man
consistently with his honor, and for man to return to God with
safety : The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier, to v/ork in sinners to
will and to do, and recover and bring them to repent and return
to God, through Jesus Christ : Thus the gospel teaches us to
believe.. ..£/>A. ii. 18.

He also was made fiesh^anddxvclt among us^ and, for our sakes,
was jnade tinder the laxu, to the end that, in our nature, he might
fulfil all righteousness^ and bear the curse : As he was one with
the Father^ he was fit to be betrusted with his Father^s honor :
As he was Tmmamiel^ God with us, he was fit to be betrusted
with our salvation : As he was Gcd-man^ he was fit to be a me-
diator between God and man. His humanity rendered hira ca-
pable to appear in the form of a servant^ and to become obedient
unto death : and his divinif^/ rendered his obedience and srifcr^i

360 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

ings sufficient to answer the ends designed. This is he of whom
the text speaks, God no loved the world^ that he gave his only be-
gotten Son : He gave him.. ..he appointed him to the work....
he put him into the office. ..he anointed him, and then he laid on
him the iniquities of us all, and set him forth to be a propitiation :
Which brings me to consider,

(2.) That he was suficiently authorized to be a mediator be-
tiveen God and man.. ..to take the place of sinners, and to obey
and die in the room of a guilty world. God, the supreme Gov-
ernor of the world, had sufficient power and authority to ap-
point the first Adam to be a representative for his posterity, to
act in their room ; and, by the same authority, he has appoint-
ed his Son, the second Adam, to be a second public head

Horn. V. 12 — 19. By divine constitution, thefrst Adam was
made a public person ; and, by divine constitution, the secoiid
Adam is made such too : both receive all their authority to act
in that capacity from the constitution of God. The calling, ap-
pointment, and authority of Christ, to take upon him this of-
fice and work of a mediator and high priest, is particularly treat-
ed of in tht fifth Chapter to the Hebrews : He was called of God,
as was Aaron, (ver. 4) : He took not this high office upon him-
self, but was invested with it by his Father, (yer. 5) : He was
called of God an high priest, after the order ofMelchisedec, (ver.
10) : His Father proposed the office and the work, and he wil-
lingly undertook. Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God....Mth. x. 7.

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son

John iii. 16 : And hence Christ says. He did not come of him-
self, but was sent of his Father. ...^o\va. vii. 28, 29 : And that he
did not come to do his ownwill, but the will of him that sent him...,
John vi. 38. And his Father acknowledges him as such by a
voice from heaven : Mat. xvii. 5. ...This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him.

Without such a divine constitution, the death of Christ could

have been of no benefit to mankind : As, if an innocent man

should offer to die in the room of a condemned criminal, and

. should actually lay down his life, yet it could be of no benefit to

DISTINGUISHTSD FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 331

the poor criminal, unless the civil government had authorized
hi:n so to do, i. e. unless, by some act, they had declared that
his life should be accepted, in the eye of the law, instead of the
criminal's. The application is easy : Thus Christ was called
and put into his mediatorial olfice, and authorized to the work
by God, the supreme Governor of the world : And hence, in
allusion to the Jewish custom of arointing men, when advanced
to some high office and important trust — (so Aaron wsisanoifit-
ffl^ priest, and David was anom^et/ king,) — in allusion, I say,
to this, he is called Christ, which is, by interpretation, the
ANOINTED : Thus, as to his personal dignity, he was sutFiei«_nt
to undertake — and thus was he authorized to do so. And,

(3.) What he has done is perfectly suited^ in its own nature, to
answer all the ends proposed : That is, to secure the honor of
God.. ..the honor of his holiness, justice, and truth. ...his lav/,
government, and sacred authority — and so open a door for the
free and honorable exercise of his mercy and grace towards a
sinful, guilty world, and away in whii.h sinners might return to
God with divine acceptance. God, the supreme Governor of
the world, knew upon what grounds there was need of a medi-
ator....what ends he had to answer, and how they might be an-
swered in the best manner. According to the counsel of his
own will, in his infinite wisdom, he laid the very plan which is
now revealed to us in the gospel : He appointed one to be a me-
diator whom he judged fit.. ..put him into the office, and ap-
pointed him his work ; — all this work Jesus Christ has done :

He has finished the work which the Father gave him to do

John xvii. 4, and xix. 50 — And so has been faithful to him that
appointed him... .Htb. iii. 2: So that herefrom we might be as-
sured, that v.'hat he has done is most perfectly suited, in its own
nature, to answer all the ends proposed, although it were quite
beyond us to understand hoiu : But, by the help of the word and
spirit of God, we may be able to enter a little way into this won-
dei-fid and glorious myster}-.

It was fit the first Adam, as the representative and public
head of mankind, .should, as a condition of the everlasting love

332 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

and favor of God, have continued in a most willing and perfect
subjection to God, the Governor of the world, valuing his hon-
or and glory above all things ; — ^this was God's due : This would
have satisfied God's holiness ; for holiness is satisfied when the
thing which is right and fit is done ; — holiness wants no more,
but is then content and well-pleased ; and, upon this condition,
maulcind might have been considered as subjects fit for the di-
vine favor, and might have received the promised reward, to
the honor or the divine holiness and goodness. Now Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, has, by his Father's appointment and
approbation, assumed our nature. ...taken Adam's place. ...done
that which was Adam's duty in our room and stead, as another
public head.. ..obeyed the law God gave his creature — a law
which he was not under, but in consequence of his undertaking
to stand in our room and stead. The creature fails of paying
that honor to the Governor of the world which is his due from
the creature : A God lays aside his glory... appears in the form
of a servant, and becomes obedient ; and so, in the creature's
stead and behalf, pays that honor to the Governor of the world
which was the creature's duty : and thus the Governor of the
world is considered, respected, treated, and honored, as being
what he is, by man — i. e. by their representative Christ Jesus,
God-man-mediator. And now, hereby, God's right to the obe-
dience of his creatures, and their unworthiness of his favor up-
on any other condition, are publicly owned and acknowledged :
the debt is owned, and the debt is paid by the Son of God — and
so holiness is satisfied ; for holiness is satisfied, when the thing
that is right and fit is done : And now, this door being opened,
mankind may, through Christ, be considered as subjects to
whom God may show favor consistently with his honor : yea,
the divine holiness may be honored by granting ail favors as a
reward to Christ's virtue and obedience.

Again, it was fit, if any intelligent creature should, at any
time, swerve at all from the perfect will of God, that he should
forever lose his favor, and fall under his everlasting displeasure,
for a thing so infinitely wrong : And, in such a case, it was fit

1

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTEKFEITS. 333

the Governor of the world should be infinitely displeased, and
publicly testify his infinite displeasure, by a punishment ade-
quate thereto, inflicted on the sinning creature. This would
satisfy justice ; for justice is satisfied, when the thing which is
wrong is punished according to its desert. Hence, it was fit,
when, by a constitution holy, just, and good, Adam was made
a public head, to represent his race, and act not only for him-
self, but fc>r all his posterity ; — it was fit, I sav, that he and all
his race, for his first transgression, should lose the favor, and
fall under the everlasting displeasure, of the Almighty. It
was fit that God should be infinitely displeased at so abomina-
ble a thing — and that, as Governor of the world, he should
publicly bear testimony against it, as an infinite evil, by inflict-
ing the infinite punishment the law threatened, i. c. by damning
the whole world. This would have satisfied justice : for jus-
tice is satisfied when justice takes place — when the guilty are
freated with that severity they ought to be — when sin is pun-
ished as being what it is. Now, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
has, by his Father's appointment and approbation, assumed
our nature.. ..taken the place of a guilty world — and had not on-
ly Adam's first transgression, but the iniquities of us all laid
upon him — and, in our room and stead, has suft'ercd the wrath
of God, the curse of the law, offering up himself a sacrifice to
God for the sins of men : And hereby the infinite evil of sin,
and the righteousness of the law, are publicly owned and ac-
knowledged, and the deserved punishment voluntarily submit-
ted unto by man, i. e. by their representative : And thus justice
is satisfied ; for justice is satisfied when justice takes place :
And sin is now treated as being what it is, as much as if God
had damned the whole world ; and God, as Governor, appears
as severe against it. And thus the righteousness of God is
declared and manifested, by Christ's being set forth to be a pro-
pitiation for sin ; and he may now be just, and yet justify him
that believes in Jesus.

Bij all this the larv is ma^iificd and made honorable. On the
one hand, Were an)' in all God's domirtions tempted to think

334 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

that the great Governor of the world had dealt too severely^
with man, in suspending his everlasting welfare upon the con-
dition af perfect obedience ? God practically answers, and says,
*' I did as well by mankind as I should desire to have been done
*• by mvself, had I been in their case, and they in mine ; for
*' when my Son, who is as myself, came to stand in their stead,
*' I required the same condition of him :" And what the Fa-
ther says, the Son confirms : he practically owns the law to be
holy, just, and good, and the debt to be due, and pays it most
willingly to the last mite, without any objection ; — which was
as if he had said, " There was all the reason in the v»'orld that
*' the everlasting welfare of mankind should be suspended on
*' that condition ; nor could I have desired it to have been oth-
** erwise, had I myself been in their case." — On the other hand.
Were any tempted to think that God had been too severe in
threatening everlasting damnation for sin ? Here this point is al-
so cleared up. God the Father practically says that he did as
he would have been done by, had he been in their case, and they
in his ; for when his Son, his second self, comes to stand in
their place, he abates nothing, but appears as great an enemy
to sin, in his conduct, as if he had damned the whole world :
His Son also owns the sentence just : he takes the cup and
drinks it off : Considering the infinite dignity of his person, his
sufferings were equivalent to the eternal damnation of such
wornis as we.

Thus the law is magnified and made honorable ; and, at the
same time, the honor of God's government and sacred author-
ity is secured : and, I may add, so is also the honor of his truth ;
for he has been true to his threatening, In the day thou eatest-
thereof^ thou shalt surely die : for on that very day the second Ad-
am virtually laid down his life in the room and stead of a guilty
world. He is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world :
So that now there is no room left, for those who will view things
fhipartl ally, to have undue thoughtsof the Governor of the world ;
nor any thing done to expose his government to reproach, or
his authority to contempt : The honor of the divine govern-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. S35

raent and authority appears as sacred and tremendous as if he
had damned the whole world ; and although sinners will take
occasion to sin, and be encouraged in their ways, because grace
abounds, yet the Governor of the world has not given the oc-
casion. In his conduct, the whole of it considered, he ap-
pears as severe against sin as if he had damned the whole world,
without any mixture of the least mercy. The infinite dignity
of his Son causes those sufferings he bore in cur room to be
as bright a display of the divine holiness and justice, as if all
the human race had, for their sin, been cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, and the smoke of their torments ascended
forever and ever.

Moreover, by all this, a way is opened for the free and
honorable exercise of mercy and grace towards a sinful, guilty
world. It may be done consistently with the honor of God —
of his holiness and justice. ...his law and government. ...his
truth and sacred authority : for the honor of all these is effec-
tually seciu-ed : It may be done to the honor of divine grace :
for now it appears that God did not pity the world under a
notion that they had been by him severely and hardly dealt
with, nor under a notion that it would have been too severe to
have proceeded against them according to law. The law is
not made void, but established. No reflections are cast upon
the divine government: And grace appears to be free.. ..taking
its rise, not from any thing in us, but merely from self-moving
goodness, and sovereign mercy. This way of salvation is suit-
ed to set off the grace of God to advantage, and make it appear
to be what it is.

Having thus finished the work assigned him, he arose from
the dead. ...he ascended on high. ...he entered into the holy of
holies, into heaven itself, to appeal- in the presence of God
for us, as our great high priest.... //c^i.ix : And here, as God-
man-mediator, he is exalted to the highest honor....has a name
above every name. ...sits on the right hand of the Majesty on
high, having all power in heaven and earth committed unto
him, and ever lives to make intercession, and is able to save,

U «J

336 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

to the Uttermost, all that come to God through him. Such is
the virtue of his righteousness and blood, and such is his honor
and interest in the court of heaven, and such is his faithfulness
to ail that believe in him, that now it is perfectly safe to return
to God through him, and venture our everlasting all upon his
worth and merits, mediation and intercession. Heb. iv. 16....
Let us^ therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace.

Thus we see what necessity there was of satisfaction for sin,
and that the demands of the law should be answered : And
thus we see what has been done for these purposes, and its suf-
ficiency to answer ail the ends proposed. The Mediator was
of sufficient dignity, as to his person. ...he had sufficient author-
ity, as to his office, and he "has faithfully done his work. And
now the honor of God's holiness and justice, law and govern-
ment, and sacred authority, is secured j and a way is opened
in which he may honorably put his designs of mercy into exe-
cution, and sinners safely return unto him. And now, before
I proceed to consider more particularly what way is opened,
and what methods God has entered upon for the recovery of
sinful, guilty creatures to himself, I shall make a few remarks
upon what has been said.

Bem. 1. As the law is a transcript of the divine nature, so
also is the gospel. The law is holy, just, and good j and is, as
it were, the image of the holiness, justice, and goodness of
God ; and so also is the gospel: The law insists upon God's
honor from the creature, and ordains that his everlasting wel-
fare shall be suspended upon that condition ; and the gospel
says amen to it : The law insists upon it that it is an infinite
evil for the creature to swerve in the least from the most per-
fect will of God, and that it deserves an infinite punishment ;
and the gospel says amen to it : The law discovered also the
infinite goodness of God, in its being suited to make the obe-
dient creature perfectly happy ; but the gospel still more abun-
dantly displays the infinite goodness and wonderful free grace
of God : The law was holy, just, and good, and the image of
God's holiness, justice, and goodness ; but the gospel is more

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 357

eminently so : — In it the holiness, justice, and goodness of God
are painted more to the life, in a manner truly surprising, and
beyond our comprehension — yea, to the amazement of angeis,
who desire to look and pr)' into this wonderful contrivance....

I. Pet. i. 12,

Here, in this glass, the glory of the Lord is to be beheld....

II. Cor. iii. 18. The glory of God is to be seen in tlu face of
Christ. ...11. Cor. iv. 6. What has been done by hiiii in this
affair, discovers the glorious moral beauty of the divine nature.
Much of God is to be seen in the moral law.. ..it is his image :
but more of God is to be seen in the gospel ; for herein hb im-
age is exhibited more to the life — more clearly and conspicu-
ously.

The moral excellence of the moral law sufhciently evidences
that it is from God ; it is so much like God, that it is evident
that it is from God : So the moral excellence of the gospel suf-
ficiently evidences that it is from God : it is so much like him,
that it is evident that it is from him : It is his very image —
therefore it is his offspring : it is a copy of his moral perfec-
tions, and they are the original : It is so much like God, that
it is perfectly to his mind ; — he is pleased with it.. ..he delights
to save sinners in this way ; and if ever this gospel becomes
the pov/er of God to our salvation, it will make us like unto
God — it v.ill transform us into his image, and we shall be plea-
sed with this way of salvation, and delight to be saved in such
a way ; a way wherein God is honored. ...the sinner humbled....
the law established. ...sin discountenanced. ...boasting excluded,
and grace glorified.

If any man has a taste for moral excellence... .a heart to ac-
count God glorious for being what he is, he cannot but see
tlie moral excellence of the law, and love it, and confurm
to it ; because it is the image of God : and so lie cannot but
sec the moral excellence of the gospel, and believe it, and
love it, and comply with it; for it is also the image of God.
lie that can see the moral beauty of the original, cannot but sec
the moral I^eauty of the image drawn to the life : He, there-

538 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

fore, that despises the gospel, and is an enemy to the law,
even he is at enmity against God himself.. ../?ow2. viii. 7. Ig-
norance of the glory of God, and enmity against him, makes
men ignorant of the glory of the law and of the gospel, and en-
emies to both. Did men know and love him that begat, they
would love that which is begotten of hini....\. John v. 1. He
that is of God, heareth God^s words ; ye, therefore, hear them
not, because ye are ?iot ofGod. ...]ohn viii. 47.

And therefore a genuine compliance with the gospel sup-
poses that he who commanded the light to shine out of darkness^
shint*s in the heart, to give the light of the knoxvledge of the glo-
ry of God in the face of jesus Christ. ...11. Cor. iv. 6 : And a
isight and sense of the moral excellence of the gospel-wav of
salvation assures the heart of its divinity ; and hereby a super-
natural and divine assent to the truth of the gospel is begotten
in the heart. And a sense of the infinite dignity of the Medi-
ator, and that he v/as sent of God, and that he has finished the
work which was given him to do, and so opened and conse-
crated a new and living way of access to God. ...together with
a sense of the full and free invitation to sinners to return to
God in this way, given in the gospel, and the free grace of God
therein discovered, and his readiness to be reconciled ; — a spir-
itual sight and sense of these things, I say, emboldens the heart
of a humbled sinner to trust in Christ, and to return to God
through him. Hence the apostle to the Hebrews, having gone
through this subject in a doctrinal way, in the conclusion makes
this practical inference : — Having, therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of yesus. ...by anew and liv-
ing way which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that
is to say, his fcsh ; and having a high priest over the house of
God, let us dra'LV near with a true heart and full assurance of
faifh....}idj. x. 19 — 22.

Rem. 2. From what has been said, we may observe, that
the necessity of satisfaction for sin, and of the preceptive part
of the law being ansv/ered, takes its rise from the moral per-
fections of the divine nature, and the moral fitness of things ;

DISTINGUISHED FROM AIL COUNTERFEITS, 339

and therefore a true idea of God, and a just sense of the moral
fitness of things, will naturally lead us to see the necessity of
satisfaction for sin, &c. and predispose us to understand and
believe what is held forth by divine revelation to that purpose.
On the other hand, where a true idea of the moral perfections
of God, and the moral fitness of things, is not — but, on the
contrary, very wrong notions of the divine Being, and of the
true nature of things, there will naturally be an indisposition
and an aversion to such principles ; nor. will what the gospel
teaches about them be readily understood or believed : And
doubtless it was this which originally led some to deny the ne-
cessity of satisfaction for sin, and others to go a step farther,
to deny that Christ ever designed to make any. John viii. 4r
....He that is ofGod^ hearetli God\s rvords ; ye, therefore, hear
the?n not, because ije are not of God,

Rem. 3. The death of Christ was not designed, at all, to
take away the evil nature of sin, or its ill deserts ; for sin is un-
alterably what it is, and cannot be made a less evil : But the
death of Christ was rather, on the contrary, to acknowledge and
manifest the e\'il nature and ill desert of sin, to the end that
pardoning mercy might not make it seem to be a less evil than
it really is : So that, although God may freely pardon all our
sins, and entitle us to eternal life for Christ's sake, yet he docs
look upon us, considered merely as in ourselves, to be as much
to blame as ever, and to deserve hell as much as ever ; and
therefore we are alwavs to look upon ourselves so too : And
hence we ought always to li\ e under a sense of the freeness
and riches of God's grace in pardoning our sins, and under a
sense of our own vileness and ill desert, in ourselves, upon the
account of them, although pardoned — That thou mayest re'
member andbe confounded, and never open thy ynouth any more
because of thy shame, xvhcn I am puc/fed torvard thee for all
that thou hast done, saith the Lord God... .YjZtk. xvi. 63. But
this is not the way of hypocrites : for, being once confident
thiit their sins are pardoned, their shame, sorrov/, and abase-
ment are soon at an end : and having no fear of hell, they hiive

340 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

but little sense of sin : and, from the doctrine of free gi'ace,
they are emboldened, as it were, to sin upon free cost. But
thus saith the Lord, JVhen J shall say to the righteous^ that he
shall surely live ; if he trust to his oxvn righteousness^ ajid com-
mit iniquity^ all his righteousness shall not be remembered ; but
for his iniquity that he hath committed, heshalldiefor /Y....E2ek.
xxxiii. 13.

Rem. 4. Nor was the death of Christ designed to draw forth
the pity of God towards a guilty world : for God could find
it in his heart, of his mere goodness, without any motive from
without, to give his only begotten Son to die for sinners : But
this was greater goodness than it would have been to have sa-
ved mankind by an act of sovereign grace, without any media-
tor ; — it was a more expensive way : As, for an earthly sove-
reign to give his onl}' son to die for a traitor, that the traitor
might live, would be a greater act of goodness than to pardon
tlie traitor, of mere sovereignty. It was not, therefore, because
the goodness of the divine nature needed any motive to draw
it forth into exeixise, that Jesus Christ obeyed, and died in our
room ; but it was to answer the ends of moral government,
and to secure the honor of the moral Governor ; and so open
away for the honorable exercise of the divine goodness, which,
in its o^vn nature, is infinite, free, and self-moving, and wants
no motive from without to draw it forth into action : And the
same, no doubt, may be said of Christ's intercession in heaven.
We are, therefore, in our approaches to God, not to look to
Christ to persuade the Father to pity and pardon us, as though
he was not willing to show mercy of his own accord ; but we
are to look to Christ, and go to God through him, for all we
want, under a sense that we are, in ourselves, too bad to be
pitied without some sufficient salvo to the divine honor, or to
have any mercv shown us : And, therefore, vvhen we look to be
justified hy free grace^'it must be only through the redemptionxh^t
is in Jesus Christ ; m^io has been set forth to he a propitiation
for sin^to declare God's righteousness^ that lie might bejust^andthe
justificr of him that believeth in ye5tW....Rom. iii. 24, 25, 2G.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 341

Rem. 5. Some of the peculiar principles of the Antinomia?is
seem to take their rise from wrong notions of the nature of sat-
isfaction for sin. They seem to have no right notions of the
moral perfections of God, and of the natural obligations we arc
under to him, nor any right apprehensions of the nature and
ends of moral government, nor any ideas of the grounds, nature,
and ends of satisfaction for sin ; (a right sense of which things
tends powerfully to promote a holy fear and reverential awe of
the dread Majesty of heaven and earth.. ..a sense of the infinite
evil of sin....brokenness of heart... .tenderness of conscience....
a humble, holy, watchful, prayerful temper and life, as well as
to prepare the way for faith in the blood of Christ.) But they
seem to have no right apprehensions of these things : They
seem to consider God iiwrely under the notion of a creditor^
and us mci-ely under the notion oi debtors ; and to suppose,
when Christ, upon the cross, said, It is Jinished^ he then paid
the whole debt of the elect, and saw the book crossed, whereby
all their sins were actucdhj blotted out and forgiven : and now,
all that remains is for the holy spirit immediately to reveal it
to one and another that he is elected — that for him Christ
died, and that his sins are all pardoned ; which revelation he is
firmly to believe, and never again to doubt of: and this they
call faith. From which it seems they understand nothing
rightly about God or Christ.... the law or gospel : for nothing is
more evident than that God is, in scripture, considered as
righteous Governor of the world, and we as critninalsy guilty be*
fore him ; and the evident design of Christ's death was, to be
& propitiation for sin^ to declare and manifest God's righteous-
ness, that he might be just, and the justifierof liimthutbelieveth
in Jesus.. .i?OOT.iii. 9 — 26: And die gospel knows nothing about
a sinner's being justified in any other way than Z'//y^/7/i, and by
consequence, in order of nature, not till after foiith. The gospel
knows nothing about satisfaction for sin, in their sense ; but eve-
ry where teaches that the elcct^ as well as others, are equally un-
der condemmition and the wrath of God. . .y ea, are children ofxvrath
while unbelievers.... yo/i/i iii. 18, 36 — Eph. ii, 3' — Acts iii. 19.

S42 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Again — while they consider God 7nerely under the charac-
ter of a creditor^ and us merely as debtors^ and Christ as paying
the xvhole debt of the elect.. ..now, because Christ obeyed the
law, as well as suffered its penalty, therefore they seem to think
that Christ has done all their duty^ so that now they have no-
thing to do but firmly to believe that Christ has done all: they
have nothing to do with the laxv — no, not so much as to be their
rule to live by ; but are set at full liberty from all obligations to
any duty whatsoever ; — not understanding that Christ gave him-
self to redeem his people from all iniqiuty^ and purify them to him-
self a peculiar people ^ zealous of good-works, (Tit. ii. 14.) — and not
understanding that our natural obligations to perfect obedience
are not capable of being dissolved, {plat. v. 17.) — and not un-
derstanding that our obligations to all holy living are mightily
increased by the grace of the gospel, {Rom. xii. 1.) : Indeed,
they seem to understand nothing rightly, but to view every
thing in a wrong light ; and, instead of considering Christ as a
friend to holiness — as one that loves righteousness and hates ini-
quity^ (Heb. i. 9.) they make hxxnami7iister ofsin^ (Gal. ii. 17.)
sand turn the grace of God into wantonness : All their notions
tend to render their consciences insensible of the evil of sin — to
cherish spiritual pride and carnal security, and to open a door
to all ungodliness.

SECTION V.

SHOWING A DOOR OF MERCY IS OPENED BY JESUS CHRIST FOR

A GUILTY WORLD.

I come now to another thing proposed, viz,
III. To show more particularly xvhat xvay to life has been
9pened^ by •what Christy cur Mediator^ has done and suffered.

In general, from what has been said, we may see that the
mighty bar which lay in the way of mercy is removed by Je-
sus Christ ; and now a door is opened, and a way provided,
wherein the great Governor of the world may, consistently wid\
the honor of his holiness and justice... his law and government,
and sacred authority, and to the glory of his grace, put in execu-
tion all his designs of mercy towards a sinful, guilt)', undone
world. — But to be more particular,

1

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 343

(1 .) A rvay is opened^ wherein the great Governor of the world
viay^ consistently with his honor ^ and to th^ glory of his grace^
pardon^ and receive tofavor^ and entitle to eternal lifc^ all and
even^ one of the human racCy xvho shall cordially fall in with the
go.spclr-dcsign... believe in Christy and return home to God through
/lifH.

What Christ has done is, in fact, sufficient to open a door for
■God, through him, to become reconcileable to the whole world.
The sufferings of Christ, all things considered, have as much
displayed God's hatred of sin, and as much secured the honor
of his law, as if the whole world had been damned — as none
ivill deny, who believe the infinite dignity of his divine nature.
God may now, therefore, through Jesus Christ, stand ready to
pardon the whole world : — There is nothing in the way. And
the obedience of Christ has brought as much honor to God, and
to his law, as the perfect obedience of Adam, and of all his race,
would have done : the rights of the God-head are as much
asserted and maintained : So that there is nothing in the way,
but that inankind may, through Christ, be received into full
favor, and entided to eternal life. God may stand ready to do
it, consistenly with his honor. What Christ has done is every
way sufficient. Mat. xxii, A^..., All things are nozv ready.

And God has expressly declared that it was the design of
Christ's death, to open this door of mercy to all — John iii. 16
,...God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten SoUy
that WHOSOEVER belicvethin hi?n shoidd not perish^ but have ev^
crlasting life — That whosoever ^ of all mankind^ whether Jew
or Greek, bond or free, rich or poor, without any exception,
though the chief of sinners, that believes ^ shoidd be saved ; For
this cndy God gave his only begotten Son. He set him forth
to be a propitiation for sin^ that he might bejust^ and the justi'
fer of him (without any exception, lot hiinhQ who he will,) that
ielievcth in fesus. ...Kom. iii. 25, 26.

Hence,the apostles received an universal commission. , Mat,

xxviii. 19.. ..Go, teach all nations. Mark xvi. 15, 16. ...Co

ye into all the 7uorld, and preach the gospel to every crea-

W w

344 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

TURE. Accordingly, the apostles proclaimed the news of par-
don and peace to every one — offered mercy to all without ex-
ception, and invited all without distinction. He that believeth
shall be saved.. ..Repent, and be converted^ that your sins may be
blettedout^ were declarations they made to all in general. To
the Jewish nation they were sent to say, in the name of the
King of heaven, I have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my
fallings are killed^ and all things are ready : come unto the mar-
riage....^la.t. xxii, 4. And as to the Gentile nations, their or-
ders ran thus : — Go tje^ therefore^ into the higli-ways^ and as
many as yefind^ bid to the marriage^ (ver, 9.) To the Jewish
nation God had been used to send his servants the prophets, in
the days of old, saying. Turn tje^ turn ye ; -why will ye die ?....
Egek. xxxiii. 11. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come....lsn. Iv,
1. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul
shall live, (ver. 3) : And now orders are given that the whole
world be invited to a reconciliationi»-to God through Christ ;
Whosoever will, let him come. ...and he that com^th shall in no wise
be cast out. Thus, Christ has opened a door ; and thus, the
great Governor of the woiid may, consistently with his honor,
be reconciled to any that believe and repent : And thus he ac-
tually stands ready.

And now, all things being thus ready on God's side, and the
offers, invitations, and calls of the gospel being to every one,
without exception ; hence, it is attributed to sinners themselves
that they perish at last — even to their own voluntary conduct.
Te will not come to me, that ye tnight have life. ...John v. 40 : and
they are considered as being perfectly inexcusable. John xv.
22.. ..Now they have no cloak for their sin : And all because a
way is opened, in which the}* might be delivered from con-
demnation ; but they will not comply therewith. Johniii. 19...
This is the conderiinatio7i, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deedswere evil:
And therefore, in scripture-account, they stand exposed to a
more aggravated punishment in the world to come. Mat. xL
20 — 2^... .Woe unto thee, Chorazin, woe unto thee, Bethsaida,

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 345

he.—- And thou Capernaum, wA/cA art exalted unto heaven, shalt
be brought down to hell^ &c. It shall be more tolerable for Tyre^
and Sidon^ and Sodom ^ in the day of judgment ^ thiin for these
cities ; bemuse they repented not.

And now, because the door of mercy is thus- opened to the
whale world by the blood of Christ, therefore, in scripture, he
is called the Savior ofthey\'OKLV...A. John iv. 14 — The Lamb
of God, which takes azvay the sin of the world.... John i. 29—
A propitiation for the sins of the whole avorld....!. John ii. 2
— Tliat gave himself a ransom for all.. ..I. Tim. ii. 6 — And
tasted death for every MAN....Hib. ii. 9 : The plain sense of
all which expressions may, I think, without any danger of mis-
take, be learnt from John iii. 16,.. .God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son^ that whosoever believcthin him
should not perish, but have everkisting life* And indeed, was
not the door of mercy opened to a//, indefinitely, how could
God sincerely offer mercy to all ? Or heartily invite all 7 Or
justly blame those who do not accept? Or righteously punish
them for Jieglecting so great salvation ?

Besides, if Christ died merely for the elect^ that is, to the in-
tent that tiiey, only upon believing, might, consistently with the
divine honor, be received to favor, then God could not, consist-
ently with his justice, save any besides, if they should believe :
For without shedding of bloody there am be no refiiission. ...Hcb,
ix. 22. If Christ did not design, by his deaths to open a door
for all to be saved conditionally, i. e. upon the condition of
faith, then there is no such door opened : the door is not open-
ed wider than Christ designed it should be ; — there is nothing

• " I am ready to profess," says the famous Doctor Twisse, " and that,
" I suppose, as out of the mouths of all our divines, that every one who
" hears the gospel, (without distinction between elect or reprobate) is iiound
" to believe that Christ died forh'im, so far as to procure hotli the pardon
" of his sins, and the salvation of his soul, in case he believes and repents."
Again, " As Peter could not have been saved, unless he had believed and
" repented, so ^udasnught have been saved, if he had done so." Again,
" yobn iii. 16, gives a fair light of exposition to those places where Christ
" is said to have dieJJor the.iins oftbeviorUi — yea, of the whole world, to wit,
" in this manner ; — that ivhosoever believctb in him, should ui't perish, hut
" have ei'erlastiitg lije."— Dr. Twisse, on the riches of God' ^ lave to the
vessels if mercy, &,c.

346 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

more purchased by his death than he intended : if this benefit
was not intended, then it is not procured ; — if it be not procu-
red, then the non-elect cannot any of them be saved, consistent*
ly with divine justice : And, by consequence, if this be the
case, then — (1.) The noji-elect have no rhht at all to take any
the least encouragement^ from the death of Christ or the invita-
tions of the gospel^ to return to God through Christy in hopes of
acceptance : for there are no grounds of encouragement given.
Christ did nqf die for them in any sense. It is impossible their
sins should be pardoned, consistently with justice ; — as much
impossible as if there had never been a Savior.. .as if Christ had
never died ; and so there is no encouragement at all for them :
and therefore it would be presumption in them to take any ; — all
which is apparently contrary to the v/hole tenor of the gospel,
which every where invites all, and gives equal encouragement
to all : — Come^ for all things are ready ^ said Christ to the rep-
robate Je\vs....vl/«?. xxii. 4 : And if the non-elect have no right
to take any encouragement from the death of Christ, and the
invitations of the gospel, to return to God through him, in hopes
of acceptance, then. — (2.) No man atallcan rationally take any en-
courage7nent until he knozvs that he is elected; because, until
then, he cannot know that there is any ground for encourage-
ment. It is not rational to take encouragement before we see
sufficient grounds for it ; yea, it is presumption to do so : But
no man can see sufficient grounds of encouragement to trust in
Christ, and to return to God through him, in hopes of accep-
tance, unless he sees that God may, through Christ, consistent,
ly with his honor, accept and save him, and is willing so to do.
If God can, and is actually willing to save any that comes,
then there is no objection : I may come, and any may come
— all things are ready-., .there is bread enough^ and to spare :
But if God is reconcileable only to the elect, then I may not
come....I dai-e not come.... it would be presumption to come,
till I know that I am elected. And how can I know that ?...
Why, not by any thing in all the Bible. While an unbeliever,
it is impossible I should know it by any thing in scripture :

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 347

It is no where said, in express words, diat I, by name, am
elected, and there are no rules ot trial laid down in such a
case : And how can I, therefore, in this case, ever know
that I am elected, but by an imuiediate revelation from
heaven ? And how shall I know that this revelation is true ?
How shall I dare to venture my soul upon it ?....The gospel
does not teach me to look for any such revelation, nor give
any marks whereby I may know when it is from God, and
when from the devil : Thus, an invincible bar is laid in my
way to life ; I must know that I am one of the elect, before I
can see any encouragement to believe in Christ ; because none
but the elect have any more business to do so than the devils :
but, if I am one of the elect, yet it is impossible I shoaild know it
till afterwards : Besides, all this is contrary to the whole tenor
of the gospel — Whosoever will, let him come.., .Whosoever comes,,
shall in no wise be cast out. ...Whosoever believes^ shall be saved —
And contrary to the experience of all true believers, who, in
their first return to God through Christ, always take all their en-
couragement from the gospel, and lay the weight of their souls
upon the truth of that ; and venture their eternal all upon this
bottom, and not upon the truth of any new revelation : They
venture their all upon the truths already revealed in the gospel,
and not upon the truth of any proposition not revealed there.

So that, let us view this point in what light we will, nothing
is more clear and certain than that Christ (WcA^that whosoev-
er believeth in him should not perish^ but have everlasting life.
And God may now bejit:d^ and ytt justify any of the race of Ad-
am that believe in Jesus : and he stands ready to do so. — And
these things being true, the servants, upon good grounds, might,
in their master's name, tell the obstinate Jews, who did not be-
long to the election of grace, and who finallv refused to hear-
ken to the calls of the gospel, Behold^ I have prepared mij din-
ner ; my oxen and my fatUngs arc killed^ and a I things are rca-
dif : come unto the marriage. ...T^lat. xxii. 4: And if they had
come, they would have been heartily welcome : the provision
made was sufficient, and the invitation sincere : Jesus wept over

348 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

them, saying, 0 that thou hadst known^ in this thy day, the things
which belong to thy peace! So that there was nothing to hinder,
had they but been willing. But it seems they were otherwise
disposed ; and therefore they made light ofit^ and zuent their
xvays...one to hisfarm^ another to his merchandise ; and the rem'
nant took his servants^ and entreated them spite/idly^ and slezv
them, (ver. 5, 6.) And in this glass we may see the very nature
of all mankind, and how all would actually do if not prevented
by divine grace : Justly, therefore, at the day of judgment, will
this be the ccndem7iation, that light has come into the worldy but
men loved darkness rather than light : For certainly, if
mankind are so perversely bad, that, notwithstanding their nat-
ural obligations to God, and the unreasonableness of their ori-
ginal apostacy, they will yet persist in their rebellion — and, af-
ter all the glorious provision and kind invitations of the gospel,
will not return to God through Christ ; — I say, certainly, God
is not obliged to come out after them, and, by his all-conquer-
ing grace, irresistibly reclaim them ; but may justly let every
man take his own course, and run his own ruin : And an ag-
gravated damnation will every such person deserve in the com-
ing world,^r neglecting so great salvation. .,.}ieb. ii. 2, 3.

And now, if Christ's atonement and inerits be thus sufficient
for all. ..and if God stands ready to be reconciled to all. ..and if
all are invited to return and come — hence, then, we may learn
that it is safe for any of the poor, sinful, guilty, lost, undone
race of Adam to return to God in this way : They shall surely
find acceptance with God : they may come without money ^and
without price ; and he that cometh shall in no wise he cast out.

And hence we may see upon what grounds it is, that the
poor, convinced, humbled sinner is encouraged and embolden-
ed to venture his all upon Christ, and return to God through
him. It is because any poor, sinful, guilty, hell-deserving
wretch may come — any in the world — the worst in the world
—the vilest, and most odious and despicable : for such he ac-
tually takes himself to be. And if he did not see that there
was an open door for such.. ..for any such. ...for all such, he

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 349

would doubt, and that with good reason too, whether he might
safely come. But when he understands and believes the gos-
pei-revelauon, and so is assured tliat it is safe for any.. ..for all
....the vilest and the worst, now the peculiar vileness and un-
worthiness which he sees in himself ceases to be an objection:
He sees it safe for any, and therefore for him — and hence takes
courage, and is emboldened to venture his all upon the free
grace of God, through Jesus Christ ; and so returns, in hopes
of arceptance. Now, does this poor sinner venture upon a
safe foundation, or xloes he not ? He takes it for granted
that the supreme Governor of the world can, consistently with
his honor, show mercy to any that come to him through Christ ;
and he takes it f(3r granted that he stands ready to do so, even
to the vilest and worst.. ..that the door of mercy stands wide
open, and whosoever w///, may come: And, upon these princi-
ples, he takes encouragement to return to God, in hopes of ac-
ceptance : and, from a sense of his own wants, and of the glory
and all-sufiiciency of the divine nature.. ..of the blessedness there
is in being the Lord's, devoted to him, and living upon him,
he does return with all his heart ; and to God he gives himself,
to be forever his : and if the gospel be true, surely he must be
safe. The truth of the gospel is the foundation of all ; for up-
on that, and that only, he builds : not upon works of righteous-
ness which he has done — not upon any immediate revelation of
pardon, or the love oi Christ to him in particular ; but merely
upon gospel-principles. If they, therefore, prove tiue, in the
coming world, then will he receive the end of his faith — the
salvation of his soul. But to return,

Thus we see that, by the death of Christ, there is a wide
door opened for divine roercy to exercise and display itself :
the supreme Governor of the world may, consistently with his
honor, now scat himself upon a throne of grace, and proclaim
the news of pardon and peace tlirough a guilty world ; and it
is perfectly safe for any of the guilty race of Adam to rcfura
imto him through Jesus Christ. And now, were mankind ia
a disposition to be heartily sorry for their apostacy from God,

350 TRUE Rl'LlGION DELINEATED, AND

iand disposed to esteem it their indispensable duty, and highest
blessedness, to return ; were this the case, the joyful news of
a Savior, and of pardon and peace through him, would fly
through the Vv^orld like iightning, and every heart would be melt-
ed with love, and sorrow, and gratitude ; and all the nations of
the earth would come, and fall down in the dust before the
Lord, and bless his holy name, and devote themselves to him
forever, lamenting, in the bitterness of their hearts, that ever
they did break away from their subjection to such a God. And
were mankind sensible of their sinful, guilty, undone state by
LAW, and disposedto justify the law,and condemn themselves
>— and were they sensible of the holiness and justice of the great
Governor of the world, they would soon see their need of such
a mediator as Christ Jesus, and soon see the wonderful grace
of the gospel, and soon see the glory of this way of salvation,
and so know it to be from God, believe it, and fall in with it ;
and all the world would repent and convert of their own accord
— and so all tiic world might be saved without any more to do.
But, instead of this, such is the temper of mankind, that there
is not one in the world, that, of his own accord, is disposed to
have any such regard to God, or sorrow for his apostacy, or m-
clinationto repent and return ; nor do men once imagine that
they are in a state so wretched and undone, and stand in such
a perishing need of Christ and free grace ; and therefore they
are ready to make light of the glad tidings of the gospel, and
go their v/ays...one to his farm, another to his merchandise : nor
is there one of all the human race disposed, of his own accord,
to lay down the weapons of his rebellion, and return to God by
Jesus Christ : So that all y/\\\ come to nothing, and not one be
ever bi'ought home to God, unless something farther be done—*
imless some methods, and methods very effectual, be used.

But that God should come out after such an apostate race,
"^vho, without any grounds, have turned enemies to him, and,
without any reason, refuse to be reconciled.. ..and that after all
the glorious provision and kind invitations of the gospel ; — that
God, i say, should come out after such, and reclaim them by

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 351

his own sovereign and all-conquering grace, might seem to be
going counter to the holiness and justice of his nature, and to
tend to expose his law and government, and sacred authority,
to contempt j in as much as they so eminently deserve to be
consumed by the fire of his wrath. Therefore,

(2.) ^esus Christ did^ by his obedience and death, open such
a door of mercy, as that the supreme Governor of the world mighty
consistently xvith his honor, take what methods he pleased, in cr-
der to recover rebellious, guilty, stubborn sinners to himself.

That he might take what methods he pleased, I say — for he
knew, from the days of eternity, how mankind would be dis-
posed to treat him, his Son, and his grace ; and he knew, from
eternity, what methods he intcndid to take to reclaim them :
und these are the methods which he now pleases to take — and
the methods.. ..yea, the oidy methods which he actually does
take: So that it is the same thing, in effect, to say that, by what
Christ has done and suffered, a door is opened for the most
HIGH, consistently with his honor, to take — 1. What methods
he actually does take, or — 2. What methods he pleases, or — J.
What methods \\t,from eternity^ intcJided : For all amount to
just one and the same thing : for what pleased him from eter-
nity, the same pleases him now ; and what pleases him now^
that he actually does. The infinite perfection of his nature
does not admit of any new apprehension, or alteration of judg-
ment. By his infinite understanding he always had, and has,
and will have, a complete view of all things, past, present, and
to come, at once : And by his infinite wisdom, and the perfect
rectitude of his nature, he unchangeably sees and determines
upon that conduct which is right, and fit, and best : For widi
him there is no variableness, i7or shadow of turning...] Ames i. IT.

Now, that what Christ has done and suffered, was svjlcicnt
to open a way for the honorable exercise of his sovereign grace,
in recovering sinners to himself, is evident, from what has been
heretofore obsei-ved : And that it was designed for this end,
and has, in fact, effectually answered it, is plain, from God's
conduct in the affair : for otherwise he could not, consistently

352 TRUE PvELIGION DELINEATED, AND

with his honor, or the honor of his law, use those means to re-
claim sinners, which he actually does : For all those method*
of grace would else be contrary to law, which does not allovr
the sinner to have any favor shown him, without a sufficient se-
curity to the divine honor, as has been before proved. The
law, therefore, has been satisfied in this respect, or these favors
could not be shown : for heaven and earth sliall sooner pass
away, than the law be disregarded in any one point. It follows,
therefore, that not only special and saving grace, but also that
all the common favors which mankind in general enjoy, and
that all the means of grace which are common to the elect and
non-elect, are the effects of Christ's merits : All were purcha-
sed by him j none of these things could have been granted to
mankind, but for him. Christ has opened the door, and an in-
finite sovereign goodness has strewed these common mercies
round the world. All those particulars wherein mankind are
treated better than the danmed in hell, are over and above
what mere LAW vrould allow of, and therefore are the ef-
fects of Christ's merits and gospel-grace. And for this,
among other reasons, Christ is called the Savior of the xuorld :
And hence, also, God is said to be reconciling the world to him-
self 7iot imputing their trespasses unto them,...!!. Cor. v. 19 :
Because, for the pi-esent, their punishment is suspended, and
they are treated in a way of mercy.. ..are invited to repentance,
and have the offers of pardon and peace, and eternal life made
unto them ; — hence, I say, God is said not to impute their sins
u7ito them — agreeably with that parallel place in Psahn Ixxviii.
38, where God is said to forgive the iniquity of his people, be-
cause he destroyed the^n not.

Upon the whole, then, this seems to be the true state of the
case : — God is, through Christ, ready to be reconciled to all
and every one that will repent and return unto him thiough Je-
sus Christ : He sends the news of pardon and peace around
a guilty world, and invites every one to come, saying. He
that bcUeveth^ shall be saved ; and he that believeth not^ shall be
damned : and, on this account, it is said that he will have all

DISTINGUISHED PROM ALL COUNTERW.ITS, 253

men to be saved^ and is not •willing that awj should perish ; be-
cause he offers salvation to all, and uses arguments to dissuade
them irom perdition. But, in as much as mankind will not
hearken, but are obstinately set in their way, therefore he takes
state upon himself, and s.'xys, I will have mercy on whom J will
have mercy : and a sinful, guilfy world are in his hands, and he
may use what methods of grace with all that he pleases : Some
he may suffer to take their own way,and run their own ruin, il he
pleases — and odiers he may subdue and recover to himself, by his
ownall-conqueringgrace: And,untoacertainnumber,froraeter-
nity,he intended to show this special mercy: and these are said to
be given to Christ, (John vi. 37.) And with a special eye to
these sheep did he lay down his life, (John x. 15.) — his Father
intending, and he intending, that they, in spite of all opposition,
should be brought to eternal life at last : and hence the elect do
always obtain, (Rom. xi. 7, compared with John vi. 37.) And
here we may learn how to understand those places of scripture
which seem to limit Christ's undertaking to a certain number.
Mat. i. 21.. ..Thou shalt call his name Jesus; because he shall
save HIS VEOPL.E from their sins. — Eph. v. 23.... He is the head
of the CHURCH ; and he is the Savior of the body. — Ver. 25....
Qirist loved the church, and gave himself roK it. — Acts xx.
5i8..,.He hath purchased his church xvith his own blood. — John
X. 15»...I lay down mij life for tlie sheep. — There were a cer-
tain number which the Father and Son, from all eternity, de-
signed for vessels of mercy, to bring to glory. ...i?o;;z. ix. 23.—
With a view to these, it was promised in the covenant of re-
demption that Christ should see of the travail of his soul. ...Isai.
liii. 11. — And Christ says, in John vi. 37, 38, 39, All that the
Father giveth me, shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. ...For I came down from heaven, not
to do my oxvn will, but the will of him that sent mc....And this
is the Father''s will which hath sent me, that of all zvhich he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. — See, also, Tit. ii. 14 — Rev. v. 9, 10 — Eph. i.
4,5,6.

i54i TnUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Thus Christ's merits are sufficient for all the world, and tht
door of mercy is opened wide enough for all the world ; and
God, the supreme Governor, has proclaimed himself reconcile-
able to all the world, if they will believe and repent : And if
they will not believe and repent, he is at liberty to have mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and to show compassion to whom
he will show compassion. ..according to the good pleasure of his
will, to the praise of the glory of his grace. He sits Sovereign,
and a rebellious, guilty world are in his hands, and at his dis-
posal ; and the thing that seems good in his sight, that he will
do : and it is infinitely fit, right, and best he should.. .that the
pride of all flesh may be brought low, and the Lord alone be ex-
alted forever. And as this view of things seems exactly to har-
monize with the whole tenor of the gospel m general, Audio agree
with the v^iousparticu.'ar representations of our redemption by
Christ — and to reconcile those texts which seem to speak of an
universal redemption^ with those which seem to speakof aj&arr-
ticular rcdempticn, so it will naturally suggest an easy answer to
any objections which may be made against it.

Ob J. 1 . If Christ has suffered the penalty of the law^ not only
for the elect, but also for the non-elect, horv can it be just that they
themselves should be made to suffer it over again forever in hell ?

Axs. Because Christ did not die with a design to release
them from their deserved punishment, but only upon condition
of faith ; and so they have no right to the release, but upon that
condition : It is as just, therefore, they should be punished as
if Christ had never died, since they continue obstinate to the
last ; and it is just, too, they should have an aggravated dam-
nation, for refusing to return to God, despising the offers of
mercy, and neglecting so great salvation.... yoA?? iii. 16 — 19.

Ob J. 2. If Christ obeyed the preceptive part of the luxo, not
only for the elect, but also for the non-elect, why are not all
brought to eternal life, since eternal life is by law promised to per-
fect obedieiice ?

A>:s. Because Christ did not purchase eternal life for them,
but upon the condition of faith : But they would not come to

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 355

Christ, that they might have life ; and therefore they justly per-
ish....yo/i/z iii. 16 — 19.

Obj. 3. But for what purpose did Christ die for those xvho
were in hell a long time before his death ?

Ans. And to what purpose did he die for those who were in
heaven a long time before his death?. ..The truth is, that when
Christ laid down his life a ransom for all, he only accomplished
what he undertook at the beginning. Christ actually interpo-
sed as Mediator immediately upon the fall of man, and under-
took to secure the divine honor, by obeying and suffering in
the room of a guilty world; and therefore, through him, God
did offer mercy to Cain as well as to Abel, and show common
favors to the world in general, as well as grant special grace to
the elect ; and that before his death, as well as since. Surely
none will deny that all the favors which mankind did enjoy pri-
or to Christ's death, were by virtue of his undertaking to be
Mediator, and engaging to secure the divine honor : for, upon
any other footing, the Governor of the world could not have
granted such favors consistently with his honor.

Obj. 4. But if Christ died for all^ then he died in vain^ since
nil are 7iot saved.

Ans. The next and immediate end of Christ's death was
to answer the ends of moral government, and so secure the
honor of the moral Governor, and open a way in which he might
honorably declare himseU reconcileable to a guilty world upon
their returning through Christ, and use means to reclaim them ;
but this end Christ did obtain — and so did not die in vain....
fohn iii. 16 — Rom. iii. 24, 25, 26. And the supreme Gover-
nor of the world will now, through Christ, accomplish all the
designs of his heart, to the everlasting honor of his great
name.

On J. 5. But why would God have a door opened, that he
mighty consistently with his honor .,oJfer to be reconciled to all that
will return to him through Christy ivhcn he knew that the non-
elect xvould never return ? And xchy would he have a door opened
that he might use means with ihcm^ when he kneiv all would he

356 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

in vain, unless he himself recovered them by his all-conquering
grace^ which yet he never designed to do ?

An3. God designed to put an apostate world into a new
state of probation. Mankind were in a state of probation in
Adam, their public head, and we all sinned in him and fell with
him in his first transgression : But God designed to try the
posterity of Adam anew, and see whedier they would be sorry
for their apostacy, or choose to continue in their rebellion. He
would tender mercy, and offer to be reconciled, and call them
to return, and use arguments and motives, and promise
■ and threaten, and try and see what they would do. He
knew mankind would be ready to deny their apostacy, and
plead that they were not enemies to God, and think themselves
very good-natured — and would take it exceedingly hard not to
be beiieVed : therefore he determined to try them, and see
what they would do, and make public declaration through the
world, that, finally, he would judge every man according to his
works, and deal with him according to his conduct : And,
in the mean time, that his honor might be secured, he appoints
his Son to be Mediator ; and so, through him, proclaims the
news of pardon and peace, and enters upon the use of means :
and now, if you ask me " Why does he do all this, v/hen he
*' knows it will be in vain, as to the non-elect, who will never'
** come to repentance ?" —

lansxver — His knowingthatall will, in the event, prove in-
effectual to bring them to repentance, is no objection against
his using the means he does : for God does not make his fore-
knowledge of events the rule of his conduct ; but the reason
and fitness of things. You may as well inquire, " Why did
** God raise up Noah to be ^preacher of righteousness to the
*' old world, for the space of an hundred and twenty years, when
*' he knew they would never come to repentance ? — And why
" did he send all his servants, the prophets, to the children of
*' Israel, rising eai-ly and sending, and, by them, command and
'' call... entreat and expostulate. ..promise and threaten, and say,
*' As Hive, saith the Lord God, I delight not in the death of a

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 357

" sinner : turn ye^ turn ye ; xvhy rui/l ye die I when he knew
*' they would never come to repentance ? — And why did he af-
*' terwards send his Son to the same obstinate people^ when he
*' knew they would be so far from hearkening, as that they
" would rather put him to death ?" — Now, if you ask me why
the great Governor of the world uses such means with the non-
elect, and show^s so much goodness, patience, forbearance, and
long-suffering, instead of sending all immediate ly to deserved
destruction ? — I answer^ it is to tiy them ; and to show that
he is the Lord Gody gracious and }nerc/fiU....sloiv to anger ^ ami
abundant in goodness. It is fit that creatures in a state of pro-
bation should be tried, and he loves to act like himself ; and
he means, in and by his conduct, to do both at once : And after
obstinate sinners have long abused that goodness ^ndjorbear-
unce^ which should have led them to repentance — and have, after
their own hard and impenitent hearts, been treasuring up wrath
<tgainst the day ofwrath^ the righteousness of God's judgment,
in their eternal destruction, will be most manifest. And what
if God was determined not to reclaim rebels, voluntarily so ob-
stinate, by his all-conquering grace, but let them take their
course, seeing they were so set in their way ? What then I...
Was he not at liberty ? Was he bound to save them all by an ex-
ertion of his omnipotence ? Might he not have mercy on xvkom
hcwoidd? Andy ^her such lo7ig-si'^'eringy mi^ht he \^ot shew
his wrath, and make his pozuer known, in the eternal /lestruction
of those who so justly deserved it ? God's last end, no doubt,
is to manifest his perfections : and in and by his whole conduct
towards a fallen world, they will all be most illustriously dis-
played..../t'c"«. xi. 36.

Or J. 6. But considering that the 7ion-elect are, jnfterallyunder
an absolute impossibility to believe and repent, convert and be sa-
ved.,..and consideriiig that all common 7nercies, and means of
grace, will only render them the more inexcusable in the end,
and so aggravate their guilt and damnation — therefore, all things
coTisidcrcd, what sectning good they enjoy i?i this world, is not
of the nature of a mercy : it would be better for them to hr

358 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

•without it : Sodom a7id Gomorrah will be better of it in the
day of judgment^ than Chorazin and Bethsaida :* and therefore
there is no need to suppose that any thing which the non-elect
enjoy in this world, is the effect of Christ's merits, but only of
divine sovereignty.

Ans. What do you mean by being under an absolute impossi"
bility to believe and re pent... convert and he saved? Using words
without determinate ideas is one principal thing which bewil-
ders the world about matters of religion : Now, in plain En-
glish, all things are readtj.... ?ind they are invited to come.. ..iind
there is nothing in the way of their being saved : but, they are
not sorry for their apostacy from God, nor will be brought to
it by all the means God uses with them : They have not a mind
to return to God, nor will they be persuaded by all the most
powerful arguments that can be used : they are volutary ene-
mies to God, and will not be reconciled, unless by an almighty
power and all-conquering grace, which God is not obliged to
give, and they are infinitely unworthy of... .and without which
they might return, were they but of such a temper as they ought
to be : they are under no inability but what consists in and results
from their want of a good temper of mind, and their voluntary
obstinacy. Sin has no power over men, but as they are incli-
7iedto it ; and the inclinations of the heart are always voluntary
and unforced. Men love to be inclined as they are ; for oth-
erwise their inclinations would be so far from having any power
over them, that they would even cease to be. — Now certainly
the bringing up of the children of Israel out of Egypt was of the
nature of a mercy, and a great mercy too indeed it was, not-
withstanding that, through their unbelief and perverseness, they
never got to Canaan : The thing, in itself, was as great a mer-

* It may be proper just to hint the gross absurdities implied in this ob-
jection. If the non-elect were under an absolute (i. e. not only amoral,
but natural) impossibility to turn to God, they would not be proper subjects
to use any means with : And if their common favors, and means of grace
were not of the nature of niercies, they could not aggravate their guilt :
And if it was not their own fault that they did not repent under the en-
joyment of means, they would not be to blame, nor deserve to be punished
for not repenting. Men stumble into such absurdities by using words
without determinate ideas.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERTEITS. 359

cy to the body of that generation, as it was to Caleb and Joshua :
and their bad temper and bad conduct, which prevented their
ever coming to the promised land, did not alter the nature of
the thing at all, nor lessen their obligations to gratitude to God,
their mighty deliverer : And yet, all things considered, it had
been better for them to have died in their Egyptian bondage,
than to have had their carcases fall in the wilderness, in such
an awful manner. And besides, it is evident that the scrip-
tures do look upon tlie common favors, and means of grace,
which the non-elect enjoy, under the notion of mercies ; and
(which otherwise could not be) on this very ground their guilt is
aggravated, and they rendered inexcusable, and worthy of a more
sore punishment in the world to come. ...yo/iii iii. 16 — 19, and
XV. 22, 24 — Ro?)i. ii. 4, 5 — Heb, ii. 2, .3. And if they are of
the nature of mercies, then they are the effects of Christ's merits
—as has been already proved.

And hence, by the way, we may see the reason why the love
and goodness of God, in bringing up the children of Israel out
of Egypt, is so mightily set forth in the Old Testament, notwith-
standing the body of that generation perislied in the wilder-
ness— and why tlie love and goodness of God, in giving his Son
to die for the world, is so mightily set forth in the New Tes-
tament, notwithstanding multitudes of mankind perish forever :
viz. It was the Israelites' own fault that they perished in the
wilderness, and so it is sinners' ovm fault that they perish for-
ever....yo/i« iii. 19, and v. 40 : And did they feel it at heart,
it would effectually stop their mouths: for this is an undoubt-
ed maxim, that the kindnesses of God to a rebellious, perverse
world, are not, in themselves, any the less mercies^ because
mankind abuse them to their gi'eater ruin. The kindnesses
are, in themselves, the same, whether we make a good improve-
ment of them, or no : They are just the same, and so just as
great, let our conduct be what it will. It was a great mercy
to the Israelites to be delivered out of Egypt — it was a won-
derful expression of divine goodness : and hence it is said, in

Hos. xi. \..,.When Israel ivas a child^ then /loved A/»7, and

Y T

360 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

called my Son out of Egypt. (And a like expression we have
in Deut, x. 18....Go</loveth the stranger^ in giving him food
and raiment.') And on the same ground it is said, in John iii.
lQ).,.,God so LOVED the world, he. because the gift of Christ to
die for the world was an infinite expression of divine goodness.
And ifmankind do generally abuse this goodness, as the Israel-
ites generally did all God's kindnesses to them, yet still the
goodness itself is just the same. A dreadful thing, therefore,
it is for the non-elect.. .even as aggravated a piece of wickedness
in them as it would be in any body else, to tread under foot
the blood of the Son of God, and make light of all the offers of
mercy, and neglect so great salvation : And this, above all
other things, will be their condemnation in the coming world..,.
jfohii iii. 19. Never are the Jews at all excused, any v/here
in the New Testament, in their slighting the offers of mercy
by Christ, on this account, that they were not of the elect :
And indeed the offers were sincere, and it was entirely their
own fault that they did not accept, and they deserved to be
treated accordingly... .ilib?. xxii. 1 — 7.

Obj. 7. But if God so loved the ruorld, the whole world,
as to give his only begotten Son to die for them, in the sense ex-
plained, -why does he not go through, and perfect the work, and
save the whole world, according to that in i?o?H. viii. 32 ?....
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shallhe not with him also freely give us all things ?

Ans. 1. And why did not the King, in 3Iat. xxii. who had
made a marriage for his Son, and sent his servants to say to
them that were bidden, I have prepared my dinner; r,iy oxen
and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready : come unto
the marriage : — why did not the King, I say, when they refu-
sed, compel them to come in ? Since he had done so much, why
did he not go through, and finish the work ? And this is direct-
ly to the point in hand, because this parable is designed to repre-
sent that full provision which is made for the salvation of sinners
by the death of Christ ; and it proves that the objection has xk)
force in it. But farther-^

DISTINGUISHED PROM ALL COU>'TERrCi IS. 361

2. Take your Bible, and read fi-om the 28th verse to the end
of that 8th chapter oi Romans, and you will see what the Apos-
tle's design 13, through his whole discourse. " We know,"
says he, " that all things work togedicr for good to them that
*'love God... .to them who are called according to his purpose,
*' But how do we know it ? Why, because God is fully deter-
*' mined to bring them to glory at last : For, whom he did fore-
** know, he also did predestinate ; and whom he did predesti-
** nate, them he also called^ and them he justified, and them he
*' glorified. And God was so fully determined to bring them
*'to glory, and so much engaged in the thing, that he spared
"not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all ; i. e. us,
** who love God, and are his elect people :" (For it is of these,
and these only, that he here is speaking.) *' And since he was
*' so much engaged as to do this, we may depend upon it that
"he will also freely give us all things ; i. e. us, who love God,
"and are his elect people : So that never any thing shall hin-
*' der our being finally brought to glory, or separate us from
"the love of God — neither tribulation, nor persecution, nor
" distress, nor any thing else." So that this is the apostle^s ar-
gument : — Since God was so much engaged to bring them to
glory who loved God, and were his elect people, as that he had
given his own Son to die for that emi, they, therefore, might
have the strongest assurance that he would do every thing else
which would be needful effectually to bring it about.*

But God never designed to bring the non-elect to glory, whei*
he gave his Son to die for the world : He designed to declare
himself reconcileable to them through Chi-ist....to offer mercy
....to invite them, in common with others, to return.. ..and to as-
sure all that he that believeth shall be saved....^\\di to use means

* If we leave God's design out of the apostle's argument, I cannot se«
that his reasoning would be conclusive, any more than a like argument
would have been conclusive, if we should suppose Moses to have used it
with the Israelites at the side of the Red Sea. " Since God has now brought
" you all out of Egypt, and thus divided the Red Sea before you, and
" drowned your enemies, therefore he will now, without fail, bring you ail
" to the promised land :" Which reasoning would not have been conclu-
sive ; for the body of that generation died in the wilderness, and that in a
very awful manner, notwithstandifig this glorious deliverance.

363 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, ANB

with them more or less, according to his pleasure ; but finally,
they being obstinate, be designed to leave them to themselves,
to take their own course, and, in the end, to deal with them ac-
cording to their deserts.... Mat. Kxyn. of, 38, andxxii. 1 — 7:
And this being the case, the objection from the Apostle's words
is evidently groundless.

As to the opinion of the Arminians, that God equally design-
ed salvation for all men, purposing to offer salvation to all, and
use means with all, and leave all to their own free will, and save
those, and those only, who, of their own accord, will become
good men ; — as for this opinion, I say, I think they never learnt
it from the Bible : but rather, they seem to have been led into
it from a notion that mankind are so good-natured that alt
might, and that at least some actually would, under the enjoy-
ment of the common means of grace, become good men of their
own accord, /. e. without any such thing as special grace. Con-
vince them that this is an error, and they will soon give up
their scheme, and acknowledge their need of sovereign gi*ace,
and see the reasonableness and truth of the doctrine of elec-
tion : Or rather, I may say, convince them, first of all, what
God is, and what the law is, and what the nature of true religion
is, that they may know what conversion means, and what it
means to be a good man, and there will be no difficuly then to
convince them of the depravity of mankind : for what leads
them to think it so easy a thing to become a good man, and that
men may be brought to it merely by the force of moral sua-
sion, is, their wrong idea of the nature of true religion. If reli-
gion be what they suppose, then, no doubt, any body may easily
become good j for corrupt nature can bear with such a religion :
But if religion, or a conformity to God's law, be what I have
endeavored to prove it to be in the former discourse, then, no
doubt,mankind are naturally diametrically opposite thereto in the
temper of their minds — even all mankind, Arminians as well as
others : and all do, or might know it, if they would seriously
and honestly weigh the matter ; for it is plain fact. The Ar-
minians are wont mightily to cry up works, and plead for the

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 36S

moral law, as though they were great friends to it : but if their
mistakes about the moral law might once be rectified, and they
be brought really and heartily to approve it, an holy, 7"■^^ ond
goody one principal source oi all their errors would be dried up ;
and particularly their wrong notions about election and imiver-
sal redemption.

" But where was there any love," (will the ohjector say) " in
** God's giving his Son to die for the non-elect — or sincerity in
** his offering them mercy, if he never designed to bring them
" to glory, but, from eternity, intended to leave them to perish
" in their sins V

And where was there any love, lanswer^ in God's bringing
the Israelites out of Egypt, or sincerity in his offering to bring
them to Canaan, if he never designed eventually to bring them
there, but, from eternity, intended to leave them to murmur
and rebel, and to have their carcases fall in the wilderness ? —
The solution in both cases is the same, and is plainly this : — as
it was the Israelites' own fault that they did not come to Ca-
naan at last, so it is the sinner's own fault that he finally falls short
of glory : However, the Israelites were often in a rage, and
r«ady to say. The Lord hath brought us into the rvilderncss^ to
kill Its here ; and they murmured against God, and against Mo-
ses....for which they were struck dead by hundreds and thou-
sands : and just so sinners do — and the same punishment do
thev deserve. Hut had the Israelites felt at heart that it was
their own Noluntary wickedness which was the sole cause of
their ruin — and did sinners feel it at heart too, there would be
no murmuring in one case or the other ; but everv mouth
would be stopped. — But I have spoken to this before.

To conclude — if this representation of things which I have
given be according to truth, hence, then, we may learn these
two things, which, indeed, were what I had principally in view
in dwelling so long upon this subject, and laboring to answer
objections ; — I say, we may learn — 1. That any poor sinner, all
the world over, who hears the gospel and believes it, has suf-
ficient grounds of encouragement, from the frecness of God's

364 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

grace, and the sufficiency of Christ, and the universal calls of the
gospel,to venture his eternal ALLin this way of salvation, and may
safely return to God through Christ, in hopes of acceptance ;
and that without any particular revelation that he is elected^ or
that Chriat died for him in particular : " Any may come. ...the
vilest and the worst ; and therefore I may come :" and there->
fore such a particular revelation is perfectly needless : nor could
it do any good ; for the truth of the gospel may be depended
upon — ^but the truth of such a particular revelation cannot. — '
2. That any poor, sinful, guilty, broken-hearted backslider, who
groans under the burden of sin as the greatest evil, and longs to
have the power of sin taken down, and his corruptions slain,
and himself thoroughly subdued to God, may look up to the in-
finite free grace of God through Jesus Christ, and pray^ " Lord
" take away this heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh :
" Turn me, and I shall be turned : Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
" make me clean : O create in me a clean heart, and renew in
*' me a right spirit, and restore to me the joy of thy salvation !
** To thy sovereign grace and self-moving goodness I apply my-
** self, through Jesus Christ : God be merciful to me a sinner :"
and that whether he knows himself to be a child of God, or no j
and so whether he knows that he belongs to the number of the
elect, or not : Nor does he need any particular revelation that
Christ died for him in particular, or that he is elected, or that
he is beloved of God : nor would these things do any good to
clear up his warrant to come for mercy ; because God may,
through Christ, give his holy spirit to any that ask him : All
who are athirst are invited to come and take of the waters of
life freely : " Any may come ; and therefore I may come, al-
" though the vilest creature in the world." And I appeal to
all the generation of God's children, whether this has not been
their way of coming to God through Christ, ever since the day
they first came to know the Lord : Sure I am, this is the scrip-
ture-way. God has sent out a proclamation through a sinful,
guilty world, inviting all to come to him, through Jesus Christ,
for all things — and given many encouragements, by represent-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTl!llFfelTS. 565

ing how free his grace is. ...how sufficient Christ is, and how
faithful his promises.. ..and that whosoever will, ma}' come, &c.
But no where in all the Bible has he revealed it that such and
such in particular, by name, among mankind, are elected — and
that for these individuals Christ died in particular, by way of
encouragement to those particular persons, in order to Icttherti
know that they might safely trust in Christ, and come to God
through him ; But then must we be right, when we under-
stand the gospel and believe it, and, upon the ven/ encourage-
77ients ivhich God has ghen^ are emboldened to return, in hopes
of acceptance : and this must be agreeable to God's will ; and to
this must the influences of the true spirit tend ; But to venture
to return and look to God for mercy, merely upon any other
ground, is anti-scriptural ; and whatsoever spirit influences
thereunto cannot, therefore, be from God.

And thus we see how the door of life is opened by Christ,
our great Mediator and high-priest : And hence, Christ calls
himself the door : John x. ^....l am the door : bij ine^ if'^^'^y "'"'^
enter in^ he shall be saved : And hence, also, he calls himself
the way to the Father : John xiv. 6....I am the rvay^ the truths
and the life : No man cometh to the Father but by me; for through
/-d/zn, (saith the Apostle.. ..Eph. ii. 18), xve both liave an access^
by one spirit, unto the Father: and also, through him, God is re-
comiling the world to himself sending ambassadors^ and beseech'
ing them to be rcco7wiled....\\. Cor. v. 19, 20. — "Which leads
roc to the next thing proposed.

SECTION VI.

A VIEW OF THF. METHODS OF DIVINE GRACE WITH MANKIND,

FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD.

4. I am to show what methods the great Governor of the
7vorld has entered upon, in order to put in execution those designs
cf mercy which he had in viexv when he contrived to open this
nooR, /« sTtcha wonderful and glorious mwiner^bfj the iriterj^^si-
tion of his own dear Son.

The most high God is conscious of his own infinite c^yftl-
lence....hi« right to, and authorit}' over the children of men ;

365 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

He sees mankind as being under infinite obligations to love and
obey him, and that the least defect is an infinite evil : He
judges the law to be holy, just, and good.. ..and mankind wholly
to blame for their non-conformity thereto, and worthy to be
dealt with according to it : He knows their contrariety to him,
to his law, and to his gospel : He sees all these things as they
really are : His infinite wisdom sees how it is fit for such an
one as he is, now, through a mediator, to conduct towards such
a world as this is : He sees what conduct is most becoming,
and, all things considered, most meet and suitable ; and to this
conduct the perfect rectitude of his nature prompts and inclines
him. Upon the whole, he necessarily and freely determines
to act like himself ; i. e. like an absolute Sovereign, infinite in
wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. This was his
determination from eternity — this is his determination in time
— and according to this rule he actually proceeds, in all his
methods with a sinful, guilty, obstinate world — Working all
things according to the counsel of his oivn 7i;///,...Eph. i. 11 —
sovereignly, and yet Avisely....holily and justly, and yet as the
Lord God gracious and merciful^ slow to anger ^ and abundant in
goodness and truth. As is his nature, such is his conduct ; and
hence his conduct exhibits to us the very image of his heart.
Thus it is in the impetrationy and thus it is in the application of
our redemption, and in all the methods he takes with a guilty
world in general : And hence, all his ways are calculated to
exalt God, and humble the sinnei' — to honor the law, and dis-
countenance sin — to exclude boasting, and to glorify grace ; —
as we ^lall more fully see in w*hat follows :

(1.) As being the supreme Lord and sovereign Ruler of the
whole world, he does, through Jesus Christ, the great Media-
tor, ^/jc Zam^s/r/Z/iyrow the foxindation of the worlds by whom
his honor has been secured — he does, I say, through Kxva^grant^
wid, bii an act of grace^ confirm to the world of mankind^ a
general reprieve from that titter ruin which was threatened by
the,Ian\ and to which an apostate world were exposed. Total
destruction was threatened in case of disobedience : Gen. ii. 1 7

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 267

^,,In difing thou shalt die ; i. e, thou shall die with a witness....
thy ruin shall be complete. And now nothing could be expect-
ed but a dreadful doom, and to be sealed down under everlast-
ing despair : But, instead of this, the great God dooms the
tempter^ and threatens utter ruin to his new-erected kingdom :
Gen. iii. 14, 15, ...Because thou hast done th'is^ thou art cursed —
and thy head shall be bruised. But guilt)- man is reprieved
from a total ruin, and allowed a space for repentance : And the
world has now stood almost six thousand years, reprieved by
the tender mercy of God, through Jesus Christ.

Indeed, certain evils were denounced by the Majesty of
heaven, as standing monuments of his displeasure, always to
attend a guilty race while in this world. Peculiar sorrows
were appointed to women, and hard labor and toil to men, and
sickness and pain to both, till death should put an end to their
reprieve and to their space for repentance.. .(ver, 16 — 19) : —
And vrhen our day to die shall come, we are not to know ;
we lie at mercy, and God acts sovereignly : so long as he plea-
ses, so long shall we be reprieved, and no longer : And thus,
while tender mercy appears in the general reprieve, the holi-
ness, and justice, and sovereignty of God appear in the manner
of it. God is exalted — a guilty world lies at his mercy — they
are, in a sense, continually under his rod, and every moment
liable to drop into an eternal hell : They are held up in his
hand.. ..hell gapes to receive them, and now he lets one fall,
and then another.. ..now this, and then that, just as it seems
good in his sight. Surely, this is awful ! Surely, mankind are
in very humbling circumstances, and in circumstanses wonder-
fully calculated to awaken them to reperit^ and pray to God, if
peradventure their xvickedness may be forgiven.

When the general reprieve, granted to this lower world, shall
come to a period, then will the great Judge of the world pro-
ceed, with all who shall be found impenitent, according to dau^
without any mixture of mercy. The present reprieve, gianted
as a space for repentance, is not of the law^ but of mere grace
through Jesus Christ. Now p-ract- takes place, and patience.

S68 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

forbearance, and long-sufFering, sit on the throne : but then
larv shall take place, and strict justice reign. The mediation
of Christ, at present, secures the honor of law and justice,
and opens the door for grace ; but then the day of grace will be
at an end : A guilty world shall no longer be treated in a way
of mercy, and favored on Christ's account ; i)ut be proceeded
against in fianiing fire and terrible vengeance, and e\'ery one
be punished according to his deserts. How long the day of
God's patience with a guilty world is to last, we know not. A
guilty world lies at his mercy, and may be all summoned to the
bar when he pleases. Surely this is awful and awakening !
but this is the state in which God means to show all long-suf-
fering, and to exercise and display the infinite patience of his
nature : and surely this should lead us to repentance ! Thus,
this is one step in a way of mercy, which God, in his infinite
grace through Jesus Christ, has taken with a guilty world.
And what is the improvement which mankind are disposed to
make of it ? Why, because sentence against their evilxuorks is
not executed speedily^ therefore the heart of the S oris of men is
fully set in them to do evil.... Y^ccXc, viii. 11.

(2.) Another favor granted to mankind in general by the
great Governor of the world, through Jesus Christ, is, a com-
petency oftliegood things of this life for their comfortable support^
xuhile under this reprieve^ and in this new state of probation.
By law, mankind, for their apostacy, stood disinherited of eve-
ry good thing, doomed to a complete destruction. ...Gen^ it. IT ;
but now, through a Mediator, they are dealt with in a way of
mercy. It is true, in token of the divine displeasure, God turned
man out of paradise, and cursed the ground, and subjected
man to hard labor, (Gen. iii.) but then, at the same time, for
Christ's sake, a general grant of many good things is made to
a guilty world : They are allowed to live on God's earth....
breathe in hisair...seeby the light of his sun.. .to 'eat of the herb
of the field, and to eat bread in the sweat of their face....to clothe
themselves with the skins of slain beasts. ...G^?2. iii. They arc
allowed summer and winter.... seed-time ai|)d harvest ; and the

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERTEITS. 869

beasts of the field are given to them.. ..G<?n. viii. 22, and ix. 1,
2, 3 : Yea, It has been God's way abundantly to do good to a
guilty world. .../o send rain^ and grant fruitful seasons^ and f II
the hearts of men with food and gladness.,.. Acts xiv. 17 : So
that, considering we are an apostate, guilty world, we may well
say, with the Psalmist, The earth is full of the goodness of the
ior^.... Psalm xxxiii. 5 ; and this, notwithstanding all the ca-
lamities which over-spread the whole earth : for we are now
to attribute every thing in our circumstances, whereby we are
better of it than the damned in hell are, to the mere mercv and
goodness of God, through Jesus Christ: Thus God reprieves
a guilty woi'ld, and grants them food and raiment, to the intent
that they may have a space for repentance. Surely now it is
vile, infinitely vile, to despise the riches of his goodness^ and for-
bearance^ and long-siiffering^ and not to take it in and under-
stand it, that the goodness of God slwuld lead us to repentance :
And it is great madness> after our hard atid impenitent hearts
to go on in our rebellion^ and treasure up xvrath against the day
af wrath^ and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,.,.
Rom. ii. 4, 5 : And yet this is the general temper, and com-
mon way of the world.

(o.) Another common favor granted to mankind, upon
Christ's account, is, a general resurrection from the dead^ (I.
Cor. XV. 21,) to the intent that all who believe, repent, and re-
turn to God through Jesus Christ, may be completely happy in
soul and body forever. It is certain the law threatened death,
but made no provision for a resunection : and if the law had
been executed, and no mediator provided, we have no reason
to think there ever would have been any resurrection : And I
cannot see why a general resurrection may not be considered
under the notion of a mercy in itself, notwithstanding many,
by their final impenitence, lay a foundation for their being rai-
sed up to everlasting shame and confusion. I am ready to think
that to be raised from the dead must surely be of the nature of
a mercy ^ and so be the effect of Christ's merits ; but the partic-
ular manner in which the wicked shall be raised, may never-

S70 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

theless be considered as a punishment^ and so be the effect of
their sin and final impenitence. Christ's merit lays the foun-
dation for a general resurrection ; and all who believe and repent
shall be raised up to glory and complete blessedness ; and all
who die in their sins shall be raised up to shame and complete
misery.

(4,) There are also divers other things granted to mankind
in general, which seem pretty evidently to be of the nature of
mercies, and so to be owing to the interposition and merits of
our glorious Mediator, Christ Jesus, the only Mediator be-
tween God and a sinful, guilty world — to whose merits and me-
diation, every thing which mankind enjoy, which is of the na-
ture of a mercy, is to be attributed ; — divers things, I say,
whereby much is done towards putting such an apostate race
of beings into a capacity of comfortably living together in this
world, while they are in their new state of probation ; — divers
things in our temper, which seem originally to take their rise
very much from that temperament of body and animal consti-
tution which God, our Former, gives us ; — there is a natural
good humor^ a natural compassion^ a natural modesty^ and nat-
ural affections : These things, in a greater or less degree, we
find to be natural to men, and to have a very great influence to
keep under and restrain their corruptions, and to incline and
prompt to many actions materially good, and greatly for the
comfort of human society and benefit of mankind in general :
These things do evidently keep mankind from abundance of
wickedness, which otherwise they would commit ; — they have
a heart for a thousand abominations, but these things restrain
them : and these things do evidently put mankind on to a thou-
sand actions materially good, which otherwise they would never
do : they have a heart bad enough to neglect them, but these
things excite them to do them. Were it not for these and
other restraints, I see not why mankind should not be as bad
in this world, as they will be in the next. Wicked men have
no v.'ickedness infused into them at death; and therefore they
have no other nature, no other principle of sin in their hearts,

PISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFriTS. 371

after they are dead, than they had before : but, as soon as they
are dead, they are evidently no doubt as universally c ntrary
to God and all that is good, as the devils themselves. As
soon as ever those things which now restrain them are all re-
moved, their true temper appears without any disguise. It is
no doubt, therefore, a great mercy for mankind to be thus re-
strained. They enjoy more comfort.. ..they commit less sin.*.,
they merit less punishment.. ..they are under better advantages
to live together, to enjoy the means of grace and attend to the
offers of mercy by Jesus Christ, ivho is the Savior of all vieiiy
but especially of them that believe..,!. Tim. iv. 10.

Thus the great God, instead of executing the sentence of the
law in all its severity upon a guilty world, does, through the
mediation of Jesus Christ, grant to mankind in general these
common favors : — They are reprieved from a total ruin — have
a comfortable maintenance in this world allowed them — a gen-
eral resurrection is decreed — several natural endowments are
granted, to restrain from bad actions, and to prompt to actions
materially good : And hereby the Governor of the world has
laid the foundation, and prepared the way to go on to use the
methods he designed, more immediately tending to reclaim
and recover a sinful, guilty world to himself ; for now man-
kind are put into a sort of capacity of being ti-eated with in
such a way.

These things ought deeply to affect mankind. We lie under
many calamities, and yet enjoj' many mercies in this our natu-
ral state of guilt and condemnation ; all which ought to be im-
proved to awaken, convince, and humble us, and lead us to re-
pent, and crj- to God for pardoning mercy and sanctifying gi-ace,
and predispose us cordially to receive and embrace that revela-
tion, which God has made in his word, of our ruin, and the way
of our recovery.

But, through the great blindness and corruption of mankind,
these things have had a very contrary effect. Mankind, find-
ing themselves thus reprieved, and thus kindly treated by God,
have many of them hereby been led to think they are in pretty

372 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

good Standing.. ..not by nature children ofwrath^ and under
tondenmation. The devil told Eve they should not surely die ;
so, many are now ready to think that the old law, which threat-
ened the least sin with death, is repealed ; and that we are now
born into the world free from any guilt : And mankind, find*'
ing themselves endowed with natural viodesty^ good'humor^
compassion^ &c. are ready to dream that they are born into the
world without any sinful corruption of nature, but rather as ho-
ly as Adam in innocence ; and hence are verj' insensible
of any need of such a Redeemer and Sanctifier as are provi-
ded : And so they are predisposed to dislike that revelation
which God has made in his word concerning our ruin and the
way of our recovery : And hence mankind are strongly bent to
misunderstand, and misinterpret, and disbelieve the law and
the gospel. And besides, by this goodness and forbearance
of God, men are emboldened in sin, as if it were not a very
great evil, nor God very much set against it. They begin to
think God is all made up of mercy, and that they are in no great
danger : And so, after their hard and impenitent hearts^ they go
on to treasure up wrath against the day ofwrath^ and revelation
of the righteous judgment of God. Thus God and his goodness,
are abused by this vile, wicked race of apostate, rebellious crea-
tures : And, indeed, all this is no more than was expected:
great reason, therefore, was there for him so effectually
to secure his own honor, and the honor of his holy law,
by the interposition of his own dear Son as Mediator. And
now, let mankind be ever so bad, he can go on with his meth-
ods of mercy, to accomplish all his designs of grace ; and all con-
sistently with the honor ofhis holiness andjustice, law and gov-
ernment, and sacred authority.

(5.) Mankind being naturally very insensible of their sinful,
guilty, ruined state — and totally ignorant of, and unable to find
out, any way of obtaining the divine favor, and wholly averse,
in the temper of their hearts, to a genuine return to God ; there-
fore God, ofhis infinite grace through Jesus Christ, has, in va-
rious ways, and divers manners, according to the good pleasure

BISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 373

of his will, by immediate revelation from heaven, set before
mankind their ruin, and the way of their recoveiy.... offered
many arguments, motives, and encouragements, to persuade
them to return, and denounced terrible threatenings to deter
them from going on in their rebellion, and directed them, in the
use of certain meaps of grace, to seek for the inward influences
of the holy spirit, to awaken and convince, to humble and con-
vert, and effectually recover them to God, through the grcat
Mediator. '.

(6.) And, because the Most High sees that, through the verj'
bad temper of mankind, this external revelation, although
most excellently adapted thereto, yet, if left to themselves,
would finally prove altogether ineffectual to recover any of
mankind; yea, so very far from it, that mankind would not
so much as rightly understand or believe it, or seriously take
mattei's into consideration, but would misunderstand and per-
vert it, and finally universally disbelieve and renounce and for-
get it, and not suffer it to have an) room in the world : there-
fore he has, from the beginning of the world, and does still, and
will to the end of the world, bv the inward influences of hi«
spirit, and by the outward dispensations of his pro'\'idence,
cany on, according to his sovereign pleasure, the work^f his
grace. ...accomplish his eternal purposes of mcrcj'....recover sin-
ners to himself.. .maintain true religion in the world. ...preserve
his church. ..gather in all the elect... display all his g'orious per-
fections in his dealings with mankind, and gtt to himself a
great name in the end; exhibiting in his whole conduct, from
first to last, the most lively image of himself.

In these two last particulars we have a general account of
those methods which God docs take with a sinful, guiii.y race,
more immediately tending to their reroNt rv, which we may
see exemplified in his dealings with mankind, Irom the begin-
ning.

1. In the earliest ages of the world, immediately after the
fall^ he began to enter upon these methods of grace : he taught
our first parents their ruin, aud the way of their recovery by the

374 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

promised seed; and instituted sacrifices to typify the grea^
atone mept, which should afterwards be made for the sins of
the world.. ..Ge/2. iii : And what he taught our first parents,
they taught their children : and hence Cain and Abel^ and after-
generations, learnt to worship God by sacrifice.... Gf/i. iv. 3 — 8^
Now Adam lived until Methuselah was two hundred and forty-
six years old, and Methuselah lived until Shem was an hundre4
years old, and Sheyn lived until the time of Abraham and Isaac — t
yea, till Isaac was fifty years old ; so that the news of Adam**
fall.. .of the ruin of mankind, and of salvation by the seed of
the woman, might easily have been handed down by tradition
from one to another, and all mankind might have been fully
acquainted with these things : And besides these external teach^
ings and means of grace, God granted the inward influences
of his spirit, whereby some were effectually recovered to God,
of whom were Abel, Enoch, and Noah, who were also signaliz?
ed by divine Providence. ...G^/j. iv. 4. and v. 22. and vi. 9. com-
pared with Heb. xi. 4 — 7.

But while God thus early began to use methods for the re-
covery of a sinful, guilty world to himself, they began early to
show their aversion to God, and unwillingness to return. Cain
seems, by the sacrifice which he offered, quite insensible that
he was a fallen creature, and that he needed an atonement for
sin. He brought only of the fruit of the ground for a thank-
offering, (like the Pharisee in Luke xviii. whose prayer consist-
ed only in thanksgiving, without any faith or repentance) but
biought none of the flock for a sin-offering, (Gen. iv.) although
without shedding of blood there could be no remission... .VLtb. ix.
22. He was a formal, impenitent hypocrite, nor would God
accept him ; but Abel found favor in the sight of the Lord by
fmth.... Heb. xi. 4 : And therefore Cain was angr}' at God, and
enraged at his brother, and murdered him, and cast off" all reli-
gion, and gave himself up to serve his lusts : yea, he forsoojt
the visible church of God, and departed, and went into the
land of Nod. And thus he, and, afterwards, his posterity after
him, join to renounce true religion, and openly distinguish

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 575

themselves from God's visible people on earth.. ..Gen. iv. 16,
And it seems good to the supreme Governorof the world even
to let them all take their way, and act their own nature.

For a while true religion was maintained in the family of
Seth... .Gen. iv. 26 : and to put honor upon the practice there-
of, Enoch was translated to heaven....Gen. v. 24 : But yet, in
process of time, they degenerated and became so much like
the rest of the world — like the posterity of Cain^ that they were
disposed to relish their company, and marry their daughters....
Gen, vi. 2. And then presently the contagion spread — The
tvlckedness of mankind in general was great upon the earthy (ytr,
5.) — Allfiesh corrupted their wat^s, and the earth xvas filled with
violence^ (ver. 11,12.) And now the great Governorof the world
raises up Noah^ and makes him 2i preacher of righteousness ; and
Noah preaches, and God waits an hundred and twenty years ;
but mankind. will not be reformed, and therefore God glveft
over that generation, and drowns the world by an universal
deluge. Firsts Mankind break through all the restraints ly-
ing upon them.. ..discover the very temper of their hearts. ...pub-
licly show their aversion to God, their disregard of his grace,
their utter unwillingness to return, and their pei-verse propen-
sity to go on in their rebellion. Secondly^ God, through the
Mediator, uses means to reclaim them, and shows all long-
suffering, and so tries them. Thirdly^ They, remaining ob-
stinate...trampling under foot his authority, and despising his
goodness, he, at last, in a most public manner, executes righte-
ous vengeance upon them. He displays his infinite goodness
tind patience in waiting so long, and using so many means for
their recovery: he displays his sovereignty in waiting but just
so long, and in taking but just $o much pains with them : he
displays his holiness, justice, and truth, in bringing that de-
struction upon them at the very time before threatened : and,
in the whole, he displays his infinite wisdom — his whole con-
duct being excellently well calculated to make all succeeding
generations know that he is the Lord, and suited to maintain

the honor of his holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. ..of his

3 A

afG TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

law and go\ernment, and sacred authority : And thus we sec
what methods God took with the old world, together with the
result of all. And now,

2. We come to take a brief view of his ways with mankind
shice thejiood^ and of their carriage towards him. There is
Tio doubt but that Noah had received by tradition and well
understood the fall of Adam.. .the ruin of mankind. ..the way
ofrecovery hy the seed of tJiexvoma7i...\hc institution, end, and
design of sacrifices : And there is no doubt but that he faith-
fully instructed his children, in what he himself knew; and
they might have taught their children, and they the generation
following, and so all the world might have known the way of
salvation through a mediator ; And it is certain that this would
have been the case, had mankind been in a disposition suffi-
cientlyto have prized the knowledge of these things : But when
iheij knezv God, by parental instruction, they did not glorify
him as God ; 7ieither were they thankful for these advantages
which infinite goodness had granted them, (Rom. i. 21.) but
became vain in their imaginations^ and their foolish heart was
darkened: And they soon lost the knowledge of true religion,
and fell off to idolatry, and changed the glory of the incorrupti-
ble God into an image made like unto carruptible man^ and to
birds^ and four-footed beasts^ and creeping things^ (ver. 23.) For
they did not like to retain God in their knoxvledge, (ver. 28.)
And when mankind, presently after the flood, did thus pub-
licly discover the temper of their hearts, by renouncing the
true God and true religion, and falling away to idolatry and
superstition, and all manner of wickedness ; — I say, when man-
kind, notwithstanding the late awful warning they had had by
• the universal deluge, did thus quickly show themselves so
entirely disposed to their sinful and rebellious courses — For
this cause God gave them up, (ver. 24, 26, 28.) — even suffered
them to take their own way, and run their own ruin. The
whole earth might all iiave been God's people, and his visible
family, but they would not : they might all have retained the
knowledge of the true God and of the way to life, but they

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 377

did not like to^ and God was not obliged to make them, and
therefore he even let them take their own course ; and yet took
care, in after ages, not to leave himself without witness, but,
by many wonderful works, to let all the nations of the earth
know that he was the Lord : And if any would repent and
return, he made provision for their reception as proselytes into
the Jewish church : And doubtless here and there one, from
age to age, by the inward influences of his blessed spirit, were
brought so to do ; and the rest weiv blinded^ as is said in a
parallel case. ..Rom. xi. 7.

And now the knowledge of the true God, and of true religion,
must presently have been lost from off the llice of the whole
earth, and never have been recovered; and sata7i had the most
full possession of the whole world to the latest posterity, had
not free and sovereign grace interposed in a most wonderful
manner, in this dark and awful juncture : But, in this^ very sea-
son, God was pleased, of his own mere goodness and sovereign
pleasure, still through the appointed mediator, by the gracious '
influences of his spirit, and by immediate revelations, and by
the special dispensations of his providence, to preserve to him-
self a seed to serve him. He called Abram alone, as it were,
from the rest of the world, and blessed him ; he made further
revelations to him touching \.\\e. promised seed ^ and entered into
a covenant to be his God, and the God of his children after
him : And now, a new world of wonders begins to open to our
view, in the divine dispensations towards Abram and his seedi..
Gen- xii, &c.

Note — While God was doing these things with Abraham, the •
rest of the world grew wicked apace; and therefore God
thought fit to give a specimen of the temper of his heart, and'
let the nations know that lie ukis the Lord, by jriaining jire and'
brimstone out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, who were
remarkably wicked ; and, at the same time, delivering rightcotm
Lot^ (Gen. x.) — A dispensation so remarkable, and never the
like before heard of, that no doubt it ficw like lightning all the
world over, and spread terror and surprize through the guilty

378 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

nations : Howsoever, for all this, they turned not to the Lord,
—Well, Abraham is circumcised, with all his household, and
true religion is taught and maintained in his family, and Isaac
his son, and Eleazer his servant, seem to have been savingly
wrought upon by divine grace : And God blesses Abraham,
and he becomes very great ; and God protects him wherever
he goes, to the honor of his great name, in the midst of aa-
idolatrous world. Nevertheless, the world, instead of grow-
ing wiser and better by all this, which doubtless was heard of
and much wondered at among the nations, they grew worse
and worse — yea, wickedness appears openly in Abraham's
family itself. Ishmael discovers a bad spirit; he mocks at
Isaac. ..Gen. xxi. 9 : And he that was born after the flesh, per-
aecuted him that xvasborn after the spirit. ..0?A. iv. 29 : So that
he was, in a sort, excommunicated and cast out of God's visi-
ble family ; and it is not long before true religion is a thing
unknown among his numerous posterity : And they who were
of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, were now num-
bered with the heathen. Thus, after this soil, it fared with
Cain, the first persecutor — and thus it fares with Ishmael, for
the warning of all godless and carnal professors : And yet, from
age to age, this same temper has appeared, and yet still does
appear, although, perhaps, this sin, from the beginning of the
world to this day, has never yet gone unpunished.

Now, it was said. In Isaac shall thy seed be called: And
with him God renewed the covenant, and to him the promises
were repeated, and God blessed him, and he became very
great ; and he also was under a special divine protection — Yet
there was a profane Esau in his family, who made so light of
the spiritual blessings of Abraham, as, for a mere trifle, to sell
his birth-right : And he afterwards became a persecutor of his
brother Jacob, and his posterity soon lost the knowledge of the
true God and of the true religion, and degenerated into a state
of heathenism.

Nor can it be attributed to any thing but the free and sore-
reign grace of God, that Jacob and his seed did not do so too.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUKTERTEITS. 379

But SO it was ; for so it seemed good in the eyes of him, who
has mercy on whom he -will have mercy ^ and whose purpsse^
according to election, always atands independent of works..,
Rom. ix. 11:1 say, so it was, through the power of him
who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will^
that when all the other nations of the earth were suffered to
renounce the true God and the true religion, that in Jacob God
was hiown^ and his 7iame xvas great in Israel. — Never was
there a nation which discovered a stronger propensity to idola-
trv, and all manner of wickedness, than they : And notwith-
standing all the mighty restraints, by God laid upon them, they
were almost perpetually breaking through all, and rushing on
like the horse into the battle. Neither warnings, nor threaten-
ings, nor the authority of God, nor the tears of their prophets,
nor the most terrible judgments, were ever able effectually to
restrain that people and turn them to God : And had not God
always, by his special grace, kept a remnant for himself, they
would have been like *SWc/«i,and like to Gomorrah... Jsai. i. 2 — 9
'T'Royn. xi. 2 — 7.

Now the divine perfections were most illustriously display*
ed, in the divine conduct towards this people, from age to ngc ;
and that not only before their faces, but also in the eyes of all
the nations round about them. Marvellous things were wrought
in Eg}pt, and wonders at the Red Sea, and forty years in the
wilderness, which no doubt did ring through the world, and
were enough to have made all the earth k7iQW that he xvas the
Lord, and, but for their perverse stubbornness, to have brought
them all to worship him, and him only — Btit all this was so far
from reclaiming the heathen nations, that it hardly tamed the
Israelites themselves. They rebelled at Tiberah, and at jMas-
sah, and at Kibroth-Hattaavah, and were perpetually provo-
king the Lord to Ti'rcr</i...Deut. ix. WheTi he sleiv thein^ then
they sought him ; and returned and enquired early after God.
Nevertheless^ they did flatter him with their mouth, and lied
unto hitn with their tongues : For their heart was not right xvith
him^ neither were they stedfast in his covenant. ,.V^y\, Ixxviii.

380 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

34 — 57: And many a time were they within a hair's breadth
of destruction, and would surely have been utterly destroyed,
but that he -wrought for his great ?iame'ssake,*.¥.xod.7SXSJ.u
— Num. xiv. — Ezek. xx.

So again, in the days of Joshua, he divided Jordan, and
drove out the heathen before them^ mid gave them their land in
possession^ and made the tribes of Israel dxvell in their tents : 7et
they afterivards tempted a7id provoked the most high God, and
kept not his testimonies^ but tiivnsd back and dealt unfaitJfulbj like
their fathers : they provoked him to anger with their high placeSy
and moved him to jealousy zviih their graven images. ...^sixlm
Ixxvili. 54 — 58 — Jndg. ii, 6 — 20. And now, for the space of
many years, God, by raising u^judges^ and by sending j&,^o/?/2-
etSy and executing judgments, did labor to reform them ; but all
in vain ; for they quickly turned aside, like a deceitful bow : How-
ever, in the mean while, the goodness and patience of God on
the one hand, and his holiness and justice on the other, were
illustriously displayed by his wonderful works in the midst of
the earth, to be sounded out among all nations, that all the earth-
might know that he was the Lord.

In the days of David and Solomon, God wrought for hisr
great name^s sake, and exalted his people, and made Israel hon-
orable in the sight of all nations ; yet were they not sincere in
his sight : and when outward restraints were afterwards taken
off, they soon discovered the hidden temper of their hearts —
that they did not care for God or his worship, but liked Dan
and Bethel as well as the temple of Jerusalem : Thus did the
ten tribes ; nor was their treacherous sister, Judah, more sin-
cere. When a good king reigned, they would pretend to be
good ; and when a bad king reigned, they stood ready for idols :
And now God sent judgment upon them time after time, and
sent all his servants, the prophets, saying, 0 do not this abomi-
nable thing xvhich mij soul hateth : but they would not hearken.
The Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers^
rising up betimes and sending ; because he had compassion on his
people, and on his dzvelling-place : but they mocked the 7nesse?igers

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 381

ofGod^ and despised his xvords^ and ^nisii^cd his prcphets^ until
the wrath of God arose against his people, till there uns no
remedy : Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chal-
decs^ and gave them all into his hand... .11. Chron. xxxvi. 15,
16, 17,

However, God was tenderly touched at the public reproach
and dishonor to which his great name was exposed, in the eyes
of insulting nations all around, who dapped their harids, and
stamped zvith their feet^ and rejoiced tvith all their hearty for what
was done to the people called by his name — glor} ing that their
God was no better than the dtojib idols which they served. —
AVherefore God raised up the prophet Ezekicl, who clears up
God's conduct towards his people, in chapters 16th and 18th,
and on — and dooms the neighboring nations in the name of
God, d-eclaring what judgment should come upon them from
the hand of Ciod for their insults, whereby they should
be made to ^now that he 7i)us the Lord.. ..as in the 25th to chap-
.ter 31. And now, also, Daniel and his companions were by
God raised up, that by them his name might become great in
the eyes of all nations : And for them he works such deliver-
ances as to constrain the haugliLy monarchs of the earth to issue
•out their decrex:s through all the world, that none should speak
£tny thing ainiss againr.t the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Al)edncgo, upon pain of being rut inpieces^mid their houses
made a dung-hill — ':ind that, in all their dominions, men should
fear and tremble before the God of Uaniel, (Dan. iii. 29, and vi.
26.) Surely the infinite wisdom of God appears most wonder-
fully, in all the astonishing methods which he has taken to make
himself known, and to keep up the honor of his great name
among such a wicked, God-hating race of beings !

And now, all this while, there was nothing but the infinite
goodness, and free and sovereign grace of Gotl, together with
his covenant faithfulness, to move him not to cast off and ut-
terly reject his people, and let them be scattered among the
heathen, and their name perish fiom off die earth. It was for
his great name^s sake Uiat he wrought sahation for them from

382 TMTE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

time to tim.e.,..Ezek. xx. When there was no motive in them,
but every thing to tlie contrary — then, for his own sake, he un-
dertook to xvrite his law in their hearts^ and put it in their inward
parts. ...to be their God^ and make them his people^ and to remem'
her their iniquities no more against them^ and to bring them back
to their oxvn larid, and plant them, and build them up.^.Kzeli,
xxxvi. 16 — 34.

And however, by the Babylonish captivity, the Jewish peo^
pie were pretty thoroughly cured of their idolatrous disposition,
yet, after their return, and after the godly men of that genera-
tion were dead, they soon began to show that they were as averse
to God, and the life of religion, as ever : And yet, all these things
notwithstanding, God is determined to make one trial morei.
He had sent one servant after another, and they had been beat-
en, and stoned, and put to shame, and sent away empty : Now,
therefore, he sends his only Son^ to see if they will hear him ':
and behold they say, Comc^ let us kill him....ls'l.2A., xxi. 33 — 39,
Wherefore, at last, God determines to cast off that nation, (ver.
41,) and to go and try the heathen, whom, for a long time, he
had suffered to take their own ways.

And now, to his apostles Christ gives commission, to go in-
to all the earthy and preach the gospel to every creature ; and he
that believethy says he, shall be saved; and he that helieveth not
shall be damned : And they run, and preach, and cry, Repenty
and turn from your dumb idols^ to serve the living God. And
had not they been stopped, they would soon have carried the.
news all round the world : But Jews and Gentiles combine to-
gether, and earth and hell are in arms to defeat the design ;
nevertheless, as many as xvere ordaitied to eternal life^ believed :
And God carried on his work through a sea of blood, and in
about three hundred years conquered the Roman empire.

No sooner is this done, but the 7nystery oj" iniquity begins to
work, and the man of sin to be revealed. The devil and his ser-
vants turn their coat, and, under the cloak of religion and good
order, establish the kingdom of satan in a new form : for it is
the nature of mankind to hate true religion. And now Anti-

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 383

Christ reigns, and scatters the holy people^ aiid wears out the
saints of the most high^ for a time^ and thnes, and half a time»
In the mean while, the woman flies into the wilderness^ the
xvitnesses prophecy in iw:/ec/o?/i, until, at last, the witnesses them-
selves are slain: And now religion is driven even just out of
the world, and there had been no hope, but that God awoke as
one out of sleeps like a mighty ynan that shouteth by reason of
wine. And behold the spirit of life from God enters into the
two witnesses, that is, Luther and Calvin, and others their
contemporaries ; and they stoodupon their feet^ and great fear fell
upon them which scnu them : And God put them out of their en-
emies reach: And there was a great earthquake, and a tenth
part of the cityfell,.,Rev, ix: And a glorious day began to
dawn.

But now, it is not long before many turn heretics and en-
thusiasts, and the world rises in arms, and, by fire and sword,
endeavors to demolish the redeemer's kingdom. However,
Ciod wrought for his great name's sake, and has ever since
been working, and will go on conquering and to conquer, until
all the nations of the earth are brought into subjection to his
son.

Thus we have taken a brief view of the methods which God
has taken to recover a sinful, guilty world, to himself: The
extet nal means we have chiefly dwelt upon ; — upon the inter-
tialy something farther shall be added presently : but let us first
make a few remarks.

Rem. 1. Had not mankind been wholly to blame, they might
all of them, from the beginning, have enjoyed the benefit of
divine revelation — Nothing secluded them therefrom, but their
own bad temper and bad conduct : And had not mankind
been wholly to blame, they might all of them have enjoyed
the gospel, and had it preached all over the world to this day
— Nothing has hindered it but their own perverse obstinacy..,'
ihcir hating die light, and hating the truth. Strange it is,
therefore, that some men of learning should be so full of char-

384 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

rity for the heathen, who thus hate God, despise Chi'ist, and
reject the gospel.*

Rem, 2. Mankind have manifested the highest degree of
aversion to God and true religion from the beginyiing of the
world, and that almost in all possible ways. Hundreds, and
thousands, and millions, have they in their rage put to death,
and that in the most cruel and barbarous manner — Strange it
is, therefore, that so many matters of fact have not, to this
day, convinced mankind that they are truly enemies to God-
Strange that they can have the face to make the old pretence,
and say, Ifxoc had been hi the days of our fathers, we xvoidd
not have bee7i partakers ■with them in the blood of the prophets.,..
Mat. xxiii. 30 — when all the >time, from age to age, they have
been acting over the old scene.

Rem. S. It has been owing wholly and entirely to the free
grace and almighty power of God, that the church has been
preserved^ and true religion not driven quite out of the world:
It is one of the greatest miracles that ever was wrought.

Rem. 4. God has always acted sovereignhj in choosing what
family, nation, or nations, he would preserve true religion
among ; all being by nature equally averse to God, and equally
unworthy : and has always acted justly in giving over other
families and nations for their sin and apostacy.

Rem. 5. The whole scheme of the divine conduct has been
most excellejitly calculated to display ajl the divine perfections
to the best advantage ; and it does exhibit to us the very image
of his heart in strong and lively colors. But to proceed,

* But perhaps some will be ready to say, that tbac may be many honat
persons among the heathen, w.6o ncjer heard of the gospel, and iwver rejected
it, who onay stand fair Jor heaven.

Ans. There is a number of such honest sort of persons among Chris-
tians, but their natural enmity to God ^nd Christ and gospel -grace is foUiKl
to be as great as others ; and sometimes publicans and harlots enter into
heaven before them — Surely none of them more honest than the young
tnan in the gospel, nor ever arrived to greater attainments ; and therefor**
all of them inight do as he did, if under the same circuinstaiices. That
natural kind of honesty, many times, is an occasion of Tnen's being har-
dened against Christianity; for they are very ready to say, God, I thank
thee, I am nut an other 7??e7;...like him in Luke xviii. Doubtless these honest
heathen would do as their fathers did, had they the opportunity : So the
honest yews did. ...See Mat. xxiii. 28 — 33.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 385

Although the external means of grace, and remarkable dis-
pensations of Providence, perhaps may,' in a measure, some-
times restrain mankind, and bring them to a feigned submis-
sion to God and his laws ; yet, such is their rooted enmity and
entire aversion to God and true religion-, that not one will
hereby be brought to repent and sincerely turn to God-....Psal.
Ixxviii. 34. — Sr. and Ixxxi. 8 — 12....Isai. v. 1 — 7. Nothing
short of those inward influences of the spirit, which are al-
mighty and all-conquering, will effectually attain t]>c end....
Mat. xi. 20 — 2r....Eph. i. 19: And therefore, besides the
external vtemis of grace ^ God has, as it were, taken a Avorld
of pains with one and another of mankind b?/ the hixvard hifxi'-
ences of his Spirit. The external means, indeed, which have
been used, are more open to observation; aixl so also is that
external opposition which mankind have made : but the same
ends which God has been pursuing by the external means, viz,
to convince mankind of their sinful, guilty, ruined state, and
bring them to return to God through a mediator — the same has
he been pursuing, bj- the inward influences of his spirit ; — and
the same opposition which has openly appeared against the
means of grace, has also secretly wrought mightily in the hearts
of men against the inward influences of the sfjirit. Mankind
are as much inclined to resist the spirit, as they are the ruord
of God,- and that for the same reason and from the same tem-
per; because both aim at the same thing — a thing most con-
U'aiy to their corruptions.

Perhaps there are some whom God never vouchsafes at all to
strive with by his spirit ; and these are ready to think there is
no such thing. Others are a little awakened, and, from self-
love, the fears of hell, and the hopes of heaven, they reform
their lives a little, and set about some external duties, and so
think to make amends for their past sins, and recommend them-
selves to the divine favor -, but are as great enemies as ever to
the power of religion : and here God leaves them to perish.
Others are carried farther, and become more strict and painful,
but still from the same principles : and there they are left tr^

386 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

perish. Not one takes one step in earnest, unless he is driven
to it ; nor goes one step farther than he is driven : and there-
fore God leaves one here, and another there, as seems good in
his sight. They do not like to retain God in their knowledge^
and therefore he gives them over to a reprobate mindy as those
spoken of in Rom. i. 28. Some^ indeed, are carried very far by
the common influences of the holy spirit ; they are enlightenedy
,..they taste of the heavenly gift y and of the powers of the world
to come, and are made partakers of the holy ghost; and yet, after
s[\,fall axuay and perish.... Heb. vi. The)^ have a great sense
of their sinful, guilty, undone state. ...of the wrath of God,
and dreadfulness of damnation, and are mightily brought
down ; and then have a great sense of the mercy of God, the
dying love of Christ, and the glory of heaven : and they
think they are converted, and they are ravished with the
thought. However, in the end, all is turned to feed their pride
and their presumption, and to harden and embolden them in
sin— They are not so much afraid of sin now, because they
are confident they shall never go to hell : And many times this
sort of people, through the great swelling of spiritual pride,
and the immediate influences of Satan, come to have strange
experiences. ...turn to be strange creatures.. ..broach strange
errors, and seem to be nearly forsaken by God, reason, and
conscience : and yet, (yea, and by the same means) get to be
the holiest creatures in the world, by their own account. But
%vhile the sinners, with whom the holy spirit strives, do many
of them turn out after this sort, some in one waj' and some in
another, there are others with whom God makes thorough
work ; that is, makes them thoroughly understand and feel
their sinful, guilty, helpless, undone state, and see into and
beUeve the gospel way of salvation, through Jesus Christ, and
return home to God in that way : And now they are kept by
the poxuer of God through faith unto sahotion....!. Pet. i. 5.
And here God has mercy on whom he will have mercy — and
even so it has been as to the external means of grace from the
beginning of the world. With sorae^ God has taken more

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 587

pains and longer ; and with others^ less pains and shorter : but
when all the rest of the world degenerated to heathenism^ God
took effectual methods with the Israelites to keep them from
doing so too : And thus, in a resembling manner, he does
with all tiie spiritual seed of Abraham — with his elect : where-
by, in spite of all opposition, they are brought to glory at last :
they are fed with manna e\ery day ; the pillar of cloud b)- day,
and of fire by night, is their continual guide ; and the rovk
•which follown them is Christ ; i. e. (.hey are fed and are guid-
ed...they live and are refreshed, and are helped to hold on their
way, by continual influences from on high, by constant com-
munications of divine grace : And so the path of the just is Hie
the shitiing light, which shines more and more to the perfect day.
Remarks. Never is any poor sinner under the light of the
gospel passed by, without being awakened by the Holy Spirit ;
but God sees he is deaf to the voice of his word, and hates to
be awakened, and loves to go on secure. Never is any awak-
ened sinner forsaken by the spirit of God, and left to take his
own way, and run his own ruin, but that first he resisted and
gi'ieved the Holy Spirit, and stifled conviction, and rent away,
as it were, out of God's hands : And never is a poor sinner
savingly brought home to God and trained up for heaven, but
that, from first to last, it was absolutely and entirely owing to
the infinite goodness, free grace, and almighty power of God :
And, indeed, thus will it appear at the great day of judgment,
that all who perish are wholly to blame, and all that are saved
will have none to glory in but the Lord. But I have elsewhere
60 much insisted upon the nature of the influences of the Holy
Spirit, that I must not here enlarge.

'I'hus the way to life is opened by Christ Jesus, and all arc
invited to return and be saved: And thus we see the methods
which God takes for the recovery of a sinful, guilty world —
And from all that has been said we may draw these inferences :

1. It is undoubtedly the duty of poor sinners to be deeply
affected with all these wonderful methods of divine grace, and
to strive and labor xvith the greatest painfdness and diligence

388 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

to fell in with the design of the gospel.. ..to be sensible of their
sinful, guilty, undone state, and to look to the free grace of
God, through Jesus Christ, for relief, and to repent and return
to God through him : Luke xiii. 24,..Strivc to enter in at the
srait gate. Some are of the opinion, that because the very best
that sinners can do, w^hile enemies to God in their hearts, is,
as to the vianyier of it, sinful and odious in the eyes of the
divine holiness, that therefore their best way is to do nothing,
but to sit still and wait for the spirit ; but nothing is more con-
trary to scripture or reason : The scripture says, Strive to
enter: And reason teaches, that when the God of Heaven,
the great Governor of the world, is thus coming out after guilty
rebels in a way of mercy, it becomes them to be deeply affected
thereat, and to exert all their rational powers in opposition to
their sloth and corruptions.. .laboring to lie open to the means
of conviction. ..avoiding every thing that tends to promote
security, and to render ineffectual the methods of divine grace,
and practising every thing that tends to their farther awaken-
ing. And O, let this be remembered, that it is sinners' resist-
ing the methods of grace, which causes God to give them over :
Psal. Ixxxi. 11, 12, 13., .But my people would not hearken to mi)
voice : and Israel xvould none of^ne. So I gave them up to theitr
own hearts^ lust: and they walked in their own cotinsels. 0 that my
people had hearkened unto me^and Israel had rualked in ?ny waysi
2. From what has been said, we may learn that it is mad-
ness and folly for poor sinners to use the means of grace under
a notion of doi7ig their xvhole duty^ and so pacify their cow-
sciences. The means of grace are designed in the first place to
convince sinners of their sinful, guilty, ruined state : and foy
them to forget, totally forget, this their end^ and to go about
to attend upon them under a notion of doing that duty which
they owe to God, as something In lieu of that perfect obedi-
ence which the law requires, is quite to lose the benefit of the
means of grace — yea, to thwart their very design — and tends
to keep men from conviction and conversion, and seal them
down in spiritual security'. That which God directs them to

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 389

do, to the end their consciences might be more awakened, they
do, that their consciences might be more quieted. The means
which were appointed to make them more sensible of their
need of Christ and grace, they use to make themselves the
more insensiWe thereof.

3. Sinners are not to use the means of gi-ace under a i^.otion
of making amends for their past sins, and recommtMiding
themselves to God, (Roiu. x- 3.) — nor under a notion that by
their strongest effod'ts they shiiU be ever able to renew their own
nature, {Eph. ii. J .) — nor under a notion they can do any thing
at all to prevail with God to renew them, (Rom. xi. 35, 36.)
But, on the contrary, in the use of the means of grace, thev
are to seek for and labor aftei* a thorough conviction, that they
can n;;ither make any amends for their past sins, nor in the
least rccowimenJ themselves to God — that they ci\nnot renew
their own nature, nor in the least move God to show them this
mercy.. .to the intent, that being thus convinced of their ruin-
ed, helpless state, they may be prepared to look to the free
mercy and sovereign grace of God, through Christ, for all
tilings ; which is the very thing that the gospel aims at, (Rom.
iiL 9 — 26.) and which the means of grace are designed to j)i-o-
mote, and bring them to ; and to a\ hich the spirit of God, by
his inward influences, does, in the use of means, fuially bring
all who are saved. ...Rom. vii. 8, 9.. ..Gal. iii. 24.

For sinners to use the means of grace, under the other no-
tions aforesaid, is practically to sav, " ^V'e are not fallen, sinful^
*' guilty, helpless, undone creatures ; nor do we need the re-
".deemer or the sanctifier which God has provided j nor do
*' we lie at his mercy, or intend to be beholden to his mere
*' sovereign grace. If we have sinned, we can make amends
*' for it: if we have displeased God, we ain pacify him again :
" if we are wicked, we can become good : or, if we do as well
" as we can, and then want any further help, God is obliged
*' to help us."

If, therefore, sinners would take the wisest course to be the
better for the use of the means of grac*, they must try to fall

390 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

in with God's design, and with the spirit's influences, and labor
to see and feel their sinful, guilty, condemned, helpless, undone
state. For this end, they must forsake vain company... .leave
their quarrelling and contention.. ..drop their inordinate world-
ly pursuits, and abandon every thing which tends to keep them
secure in sin, and quench the motions of the spirit ; and for
this end must they read, hear, meditate, and pray... compare
themselves with God's holy law.. ..try to view themselves in the
same light that God does, and pass the same judgment upon
themselves ; that so they may be in a way to approve of the
law, and to admire the grace of the gospel — to judge and con-
demn themselves, and humbly to applj' to the free gi-ace of God,
through Jesus Christ, for all things, and through him to return
to God.

Thus we have gone through what was proposed under this
third general head : We have considered the necessity there
was of satisfaction for sin, and of a perfect righteousness : We
have considered what satisfaction for sin has been made, and
what righteousness wrought out, and wherein their sufficiency
consists : We have considered how the way of life has been
opened by the means ; and we have considered what methods
God has actually entered upon for the recoveiy of lost sinners
to himself. And thus, now, upon the whole, we see upon
v.'hat grounds the great Governor of the world considered
mankind as being in a perishing condition, and whence his de-
signs of mercy originally took their rise, and what necessity
there was for a Mediator and Redeemer, and how the way to
life has been opened by him whom God has provided : and so
may now pass to the next thing proposed.
SECTION VII.
SHOWING THE NATURE OF A GENUINE COMPLIANCE WITH
THE GOSPEL.

IV. To show the true nature of a saving faith in Christ.—
And because, by the whole, I am to explain the nature of the
gospel, and of a genuine compliance therewith, therefore I
will begin with a more general view of things, and afterwards
proceed to a more distinct survey of faith in particular.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 391

Now, a genuine compliance with the gospel, in general,
consists in a spiritual and divine sight and sense of the great
truths therein presupposed and revealed.. .and in a firm beliet
of those truths, and an answerable frame of heart ; — as is evi-
dent from II. Cor. iv. 3, 4, 5 — I. Thcs. ii. 13 — Mat, xiii. 23 —
John viii. 32.

It is dh'me light^ imparted by the spirit of God to the soul,
which lays the foundation of all....i)icz?. xi. 25 — Gal. i. 16 — II.
Cor. iii. 18. This spiritual and divine light, according to the
language of St. Paul, shines in the hearty and consists in the
knowledge of glory.. ..II. Cor. iv. 6 ; that is, in a seyise of
MORAL BEAUTY — a se7ise of that beauty there is in the moral
perfections of God, and in all spiritual and divine things....
that HOLY beauty which is peculiar to spiritual, and divine,
and holy things ; of which every unholy heart is perfectly in-
sensible....I. John i. 3, 6. And by /7, things are made to ap-
pear to us, in a measure, as they do to God himself, and to the
angels and saints in heaven : And so, by /Y, we are made to
change our minds, and are brought to be of God's mind con-
cerning things : And so we are hereby disposed to understand,
believe, entertain, and embrace the gospel. ...ycAn viii. 47.

God, the great Governor of the world, who sees all things
as being what they are, does, in the gospel, consider mankind
as perishing — as fallen, sinful, guilty, justly condemned, help-
less, and undone. He looks upon the original constitution
with Adam as holy, just, and good ; and that, by and according
to that constitution, he might have damned the whole human
race, consistently with his goodness, and to the honor of iiis
holiness and justice : He looks upon the law of nature as holy,
just, ai\d good ; and that, by and according to that, he might
damn a guilty world, consistently with his goodness, and to the
honor of his holiness and justice. Now, by this divine light^
we are brought to look upon things as God docs, and to have
sui answerable frame of heart.

Again — God, the great Governor of the world, who sees all
things as being what they are, does, in the gospel, consider a

3 c:

392 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

guilty world as lying at his mercy. He saw that he was under
no obligations to pity them in the least, or in the least to miti-
gate their punishment — much less under any obligations to
give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life — and still much less
under any obligations, by his holy spirit, to subdue and recover
such obstinate rebels, who hate him and his Son.. ..his law and
his gospel, and are perfectly averse to a return. He saw a
guilty world lie at his mercy, and that he was at liberty to have
mercy or not to have mercy, according to his sovereign pleas-
ure ; and that it was fit, and becoming his glorious Majesty,
to act as a sovereign in this affair. And now, by this divine
lights we are brought to look upon things as God does, and to
have an answerable frame of heart.

Again — God, the great Governor of the world, who sees all
things as being what they are, at the same time that he designs
mercy for a guilty world, does consider a Mediator as being
necessary to answer the demands of the broken law, and secure
the divine honor. In such ^perishing condition he sees man-
kind— so guilty.. ..so justly condemned, that it would be incon-
sistent with the divine perfections, and contrary to all good
rules of government, to pardon and save such wicked, hell-de-
serving rebels, without some proper atonement for their sin,
and suitable honor done to his law : But the honor of his holi-
ness and justice. ..law and government, is sacred in his eyes,
and of infinite importance, and must be maintained : better
the whole world be damned than they in the least be sullied :
And now, by this divine light,, we are brought to look upon
things as God does, and to have an answerable frame of heart.

Moreover, God, the gi-eat Governor of the world, who sees
all things as being what they are, views his only begotten Son
as a meet person for a mediator, and himself as having suffi-
cient power to authorize him to the work. Of his sovereign,
self-moving goodness, he, in his infinite wisdom, contrives the
whole scheme... lays the whole plan, and puts his design in ex-
ecution— ^the door of mercy is opened.. .the news of pardon and

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS, 393

peace is sent through a guilty world, and all are invited to re-
turn home to God thi'ough Jesus Christ : and God looks upon
this way of salvation as being glorious for God, and safe for
the poor sinner ; And now, by this divine light, we are brought
rightly to understand these things, and look upon them as God
does, and believe them, and to have an answerable frame of
heart.

Lasthf, GoD, the great Governor of the world, docs, in the
gospel, consider our return unto him through Jesus Christ, not
only as a duty to which we are under infinite obligations, but
also as a privilege of infinite value ; and, in this view of the
case, he commands and invites us to return : And now, by this
divine light we are brought to look upon this also as God does,
and to judge it the fittest and happiest thing in the world to
return unto him through Jesus Christ, and to have an answer-
able frame of heart : For,

By this light we come to have a right view of the most high
God.. .to see him, in a measure, as the saints and angels in
heaven do.. .to see him in his infinite gi-eatness and majesty,
and in the infinite glory and beauty of his nature : And hence
we are made sensible that he is infinitely worthy of the high-
est esteem. ..reverence. ..love. ..delight, and of universal obedi-
ence : And hence we see, that we, in particular, are under in-
finite obligations to love him with all our hearts, and obey hin\
in every thing ; and that to do so is the happiest thing in the
world ; that not to do so, is infinitely wrong, and deserves an
infinite punishment: And thus we see the grounds of the law
of nature. ..the reasons from whence it results, and, with all our
hearts, consent to it, and approve of it as holy, just, and good :
And this naturally lays the foundation for us righdy to under-
stand, and heartily to approve of the original constitution with
Adam : And while we behold God in his infinite glor)', and
view the law as holy, just, and good, and see our infinite obli-
gations perfectly to conform unto it — now our universal depra-
vity and infinite ill desert appear in a clear and divine light:
Hence it appears we lie at mercy, and that it is fit he should

so* TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

have mercy on whom he will. ..that it becomes the Majesty of
heaven to act as a sovereign in this affair : And it appears that
there is no motive in us to excite his compassions, but infinite-
ly to the contrar)' : and hence the heart is prepared to discern
the freencss of divine grace, and to perceive that the goodness
of the divine nature must be self-moving ; and also to under-
stand the need there is of a mediator to secure the divine ho-
nor : for creatures so bad appear too vile to be relieved, unless
justice may first be satisfied ; it is contrary to law, and contra-
ry to reason, that they should. And while we view these
things, and have a divine sense of them on our hearts, we are
hereby prepared to understand the way of salvation by free
grace through Jesus Christ, as revealed in the gospel ; And
now a sense of the glorious freeness of divine grace. ...the ex-
cellence and sufficiency of Christ, and the readiness of God
to be reconciled to retvirning sinners through him, lays the
foundation for faith and hope.* And all this while there is
secretly enkindling in the heart a most genuine disposition to
return home to God. ...to love him and live to him, arising
from a sense of the ineffable glory and beauty of the divine na-
ture : for he appears glorious in holiness, justice, goodness, and
grace ; and glorious in his sovereignty and in his majesty, as
supreme Lord and high Governor of the whole world. Upon
the whole, with utmost solemnity, as being in ourselves infinite-
1)' unfit for the divine favor, we venture our eternal all upon
Jesus Christ as Mediator^ relying on his worth and merits, and ~
trusting to the mere free mercy of God through him, for par-

* All these things (although it takes considerable time to express them
in order) may, for substance, instantly open to view, and the soul imme-
diately acquiesce in the gospel-scheme and close with Christ; — instantly, I
say, upon divine light's being imparted to the soul: But the mind, in
that solemn and awful hour, may especially fix only upon some particu-
lars; and so a remeiribrance of these may remain, while other particulars,
which were then in view, cannot afterwards be recollected. Hence, some
may doubt whether their ^r** act of faith vk^as right. The best way to
remove such fears, is to live in the exercise of fairh every day ; for when
these views, and a consciousness of them, become habitual, our scruples
will cease of course. The special nature of our faith may be learnt from
the after acts, as well as by ihefrst act; for the after acts w'ill be of the
same nature with the^r*f, let our faith be true or false.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 395

cion, and grace, and glory ; and hence are encouraged and em-
boldened, with our whole hearts, to return home to God through
him, and give up ourselves to God forever, to love him and
live to him, and live upon him forever, lamenting that ever we
sinned against him, resolving to cleave to him with all our
hearts, and never, never to depart from h\m....Heh. iv. 16, and
X. 19 — 22 — Eph. ii. 18 — yohn xiv. 6 — Rom. iii. 24, 25, 26.
And thus, by this divine light, imparted by the spirit of God,
is the soul finally brought to unite to Christ by faith, and to re-
turn home to God through him. John vi. 44, 4S....A^o man
can come to me, except the Father draw him : They shall be all
taught of God. Every inan, therefore, that hath heard and karn-
ed of the Father, cometh unto me. And from what has been
said conceining the nature of the gospel, it is self-evident that
herein consists a genuine compliance therewith : For all this
is only to see things as being what they are, and to be alfected
and act accordingly.

Remark 1. This is peculiar to a genuine compliance with
the gospel, and that whereby it is spccificallv different from all
counterfeits, namely — its being founded in, and resulting from
ihS.^ divine light ; whereby we are brought, not merely in spec-
ulation, but in heart, to look upon things as God does. He
sees all things as they are ; and therefore when any poor sinner
is brought to a right view of things, i. e. to see them as they arc,
he must, by consequence, look upon them as God does. Now,
all others being blind and ignorant in scripture-account, hence
this true sight and sense of things is very peculiar and distin-
guishing : And hence we may observe that it is mentioned as
being peculiar to the good-ground-hearers, in Mat. xiii. 25....
That they heard the ivord, and understood it. And Christ
intimates that none but his true disciples know the truth...,
John viii. 31, 32 : And the gospel is again and again said to be
hid i'vom ixW othcvs.... Mat. xi. 25 — II. Cor. iv. 3: And they
only have it revealed unto them..../1/af. xi. 25 : Thev only
have the vail taken of from their hearts. ...II. Cor. iii. 14 — 17 :
And they only behold with open face. ...utr. 18.

395 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

2. This spiritual and divine light lays the foundation for a
new kind of belief of the gospel. A sight of the divine beauty
and gloryof the gospel-scheme, convinces and assures the heart
that it is divine, and indeed from God, and not a cunningly de-
vised fable. This is an evidence peculiar to the regenerate,
and, of all others, it is unspeakably the most satisfactory. — (See
this largely explained and proved in Mr. Edward^s treatise on
religious affecions, p. 182,199.)

3. Regeneration, faith, repentance, and conversion, are, in
their own nature, connected together, and so they are in this
representation. In regeneration we receive this divine light....
this new spiritual sense of things. Our eyes are opened, and
we are brought out of darkness into this marvellous light ; and
so come to have a right view of God. ...of ourselves... .of Christ
....and of the gospel-way of salvation by free grace through him.
This spiritual illumination lays the foundation for faith, repent-
ance, and conversion : It discovers the grounds of faith, of re-
pentance, and conversion ; and we believe, we repent, and con-
vert. Repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lordje-
sus Christy always go together.... ^tts xx. 21 : and the gospel
calls sinners to repent^ and be converted, as well as to believe in
Christ..,. Acts iii. 19. Those, therefore, who seem to have
much lighty und faith, and joy, but have no repenta?ice, nor do
turn to God with all their hearts, are deluded.

4. Spiritual light and true faith are always in proportion.
A spiritual sense of God... .of ourselves. ...of Christ, and of the
gospel way of salvation by free grace through him, lays the
foundation for faith ; and faith naturally results therefrom — as
has been observed, and as is evident from jfohn vi. 45 : and
therefore, from the nature of the case, they must be in equal
degree in the heart : And thei-efore, those who pretend to live
by faith, when they are spiritually blind and dead, do but de-
ceive themselves. Nor is what they plead from Isai. I. x. at
all to the purpose : Who is among you that feareth the Lord.., that
obeyeth the voice of his servant.. .that xvalketh in darhiess, and hath
no light ? Let him trust in the Lord, and stay upon his God.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 397

Because,!. The persons here spoken of were not spiritually
blind and dead, but had a spiritual sense of God and divine
things on their hearts ; for they feared the Lord^ and obeyed his
voice ; so that they lived in the exercise of grace, and walked
in the ways of holiness, which, without spiritual light, had been
impossible. And, 2. What they were in the dark about, was,
how, or by what means, the children of Israel should ever be
brought out of the Babylonish captivity, back again to Zion :
which they knew God had promised, but they could see no
way wherein it could be brought about. In this respect they
walked in darkncsa^ and could t;ce no Ught^ and therefore they
are exhorted to put their trust in the Lord^ whose wisdom, pow-
er, and faithfulness are infinite. This is evidently the mean-
ing of the words, as is manifest from the scope and tenor of the
prophet's discourse through all the ten preceding chapters,
which was calculated for the support and comfort of the godly
in the Bab) lonish captivity, by assuring them of a return.* —
Nor is what is said about Abraham, that against hope he believed
in hope.... nov what is said by St. Paul — JFe xvalk by faith ^ and
not by sights any thing to their purpose ; unless they suppose
that Abraham and Paul, and the primitive christians in general,
were as dead, and blind, and carnal, as themselves. The
truth is, that this blind faith is the very thing which the Apostle
yames calls a dead faith.

5. E\'angelical humiliation and true faith are likewise always
in proportion. Evangelical humiliation consists in a sense of
our own sinfulness, vileness, odiousness, and ill-desert, and
in a disposition, thence resulting, to lie down in the dust full of

* The three first verses of the next chapter, (Isai. li. 1, 2, 3) do, I
think, confirm tlie above iuteriirtiation of Isai. 1. 10 — although, I
iloiibt not, the ])roj)het's discourse, tliroiigh the abo\esaid ten cliapters, has
3. farther look to the Mesiia/fs kingdom, and our r(.iUn'.])tioii cut of nnys-
tical Babylov : But let the words be considered in either view, or only con-
sidered in themselves absolutely, it is plain they never were designed to
comfort stony-ground hearers, when their religion is all worn out, and they
become dcat/, blind, and carnal, and so full of doiiW^s and fears : Nor do
they mean to embolden such " firmly to believe they are in a good state,
" though ever so much in the dark, i. e. though the) see no grace in their
" hearts, nor signs of an) :" For the words are dirtcicd o,:!y to those w/6o
fear the Lord, and obty the voice oj his servant.

398 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

self-loathing and self-abhorrence, abased before the Lord, really
accounting ourselves infinitely too bad ever to venture to come
into the divine presence In our own names, or to have a thought
of mercy from God on the account of our own goodness : And
it is this which makes us sensible of our need of a mediator,
and makes us desire to be found, not in ourselves, but in Christ—
not having on our own righteousness, but his : No farther,
therefore, than these views and this temper prevail in us, shall
we truly discern any need of Christ, or be heartily inclined to
have any respect to him as a mediator between God and us :
There can,^ therefore, be no more of true faith in exercise,
than there is of this true humility. When men, therefore,
appear righteous in their own eyes, and look upon themselves
as deserving well at the hands of God, on the account of their
own goodness, they can feel no need of a mediator, nor at
heart have any respect to Christ, under that character.... Luke
V. 31. This condemns the faith of the self-righteous formalist,,
who depends upon his being conscientious in his ways, and
upon his sincerely endeavoring to do as well as he can, to re-
commend him to God: And this condemns, also, the faith of
the proud enthusiast^ who appears so g09d in his own eyes. ..so
far from a legal spirit.. .so purely evangelical. ..so full of light
and knowledge, humility and love, zeal and devotion, as that,
from a sense of his own goodness, and how greatly beloved
he is in the sight of God, he is encouraged and elevated, and
feels greatly emboldened to come into the presence of God, and
draw near, and come even to his seat, and use familiarity and
boldness with God, as though he was almost an equal. Such
are so far from any true sense of their need of Christ, as that
they rather feel more fit to be mediators and intercessors in be-
half of others, than to want one for themselves : And it is the way
of such, from that great sense they have of their own goodness,
to make bold with God, and to make bold with Christ, in their
prayers, as if they felt themselves pretty nigh upon a level.
Of all men in the world, I am ready to think that God looks
upon tlaese the worst, and hates them the most.. ..(Luke xviii.

DIBTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 399

9 — 14— Isai. Ixv. 5.) But did they know it, they would hate
him as entirely as he does them. Hypocrites of all sorts fail
in this point : they see no real need of Christ — they are not so
bad but that, to their own sense and feeling, they might be par-
doned and saved by the free mercy of God, without any media-
tor : Hence they do not understand the gospel j it is all fool-
ishness to them. ...I. Cor. ii. 14.

6. It is a spiritual sense and firm belief of the truths of the
gospel which encourages the heart to trust in Christ.. ..y^An
vi. 45. That the goodness of God is infinite, and self-moving
—that Christ, as Mediator, has secured the honor of God, the
moral Governor of the world, and opened a way for the free
and honorable exercise of his grace — that through Christ, God,
the supreme Governor of the world, is actually ready to be re-
conciled, aad invites all, the vilest not excepted, to return to
him in this way : — These truths, being spiritually understood
5ind firmly believed, convince the heart of the safety of trust-
ing in Christ, and encourage it so to do...,ffelf. x. 19.... 3Iat.
xxii. 4.

7. Saving faith consists in that entire trust, reliance, or de-
pendance on Jesus Christ, the great Mediator, his satisfaction
and merits, mediation and intercession, which the humbled
sinner has, whereby he is emboldened to return home to God
in hopes of acceptance, and is encouraged to look to and trust
in God through him for that complete salvation which is offer-
ed in the gospel. The opposite to justifying faith, is a self-
righteous spirit and temper, whereby a man, from a conceit of,
and reliance upon his own goodness^ is emboldened and encour-
aged to trust and hope in the mercy of God,.,.IIcb. x. 19, 23
— Luke xviii. 9 — 14 ; and accordingly, when such sec how bad
they really are, their faith fails — they naturally think that God
cannot find in his heart to show mercy to such.

8. Faith emboldens the heart. In a legal humiliation, which
is antecedent to spiritual light, the sinner is brought to a kind
of despair : The things which used to embolden him, do now
entirelv foil : he finds no good in himself — yea, he feels him-

3 D

400 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

self dead in sin ; and upon this his heart dies within him. /
xvas alive xvithout the knv once ; but when the commaiidment
ca?ne, ain revived^ otid I died.... Rom. vii. 9 : And by spiritual
light, in evangelical humiliation, his undone state, in and of
himself, is made still more plain. But now faith emboldens
the heart.. ..begets new courage.. ..lays the foundation for a new
kind of hope — a hope springing entirely from a new founda-
tion. Heb. X. 19, 22. ..Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to
■enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, let us draw Jiear xvith a
true heart, infidl assurance of faith. By faith the heart is em-
boldened— 1. To return home to God, in hopes of acceptance. A
spiritual sight andsense of the ineffable beauty of the divine na-
ture begets a disposition to look upon it the fittest and happiest
thing in the world to love God with all die heart, and be entirely
devoted to him forever ; and enkindles an inclination to return,
and everlastingly give up and consecrate ourselves unto him.
*!*• But may such a wretch as I be the Lord's ? Will he accept
me V Now the believ'er, understanding the way of acceptance
by Christ, and seeing the safety of it, ventures his all upon
this sure foundation, and hereby is emboldened to return.
Heb. xi. Q)....He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rexvarder of them that diligenthj seek him ; \. e.
first — He must see what God is. ...behold him in his glory, or
he cannot, in a genuine manner, desire to come to him : and
secondly — He must see that he is ready to be reconciled unto
and to save those, who, from a genuine desire to be his, do
heartily return to him through the Mediator he has appointed ;
or else he will not dare to come : But when both these are
seen and believed, now the soul will return, and come and give
up itself to God, to be the Lord's forever. 2. Faith in Christ
emboldens the heart to look to and trust in the free grace of
God through him, for all things that just such a poor creature
wants — even for all things offered in the gospel to poor sinners.
Heb. iv. \^....Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we nunj obtain mercij and find grace. Pardoning
Biercy and sanctiiying grace are the two great benefits of the

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 401

new covenant ; and these are the two great things which an en-
lightened soul feels the want of, and for which he is embolden-
ed to come to God by Jesus Christ : / 7vill be to them a God^
and they shall be to me a people^ saith the Lord in the new cov-
enant ; and this is all my salvation^ and all my desire^ saith the
believer.

9. The wordy^//VA, in scripture, is evidently used in various
senses : Or thus, there are various different exercises of a god-
ly soul, all which in scripture are c?^tA faith — for I mean here
to leave out all those sorts ofya/YA spoken of in scripture, which
the unregenerate man is capable of: — 1. It is the way of godly
men to live under a spiritual sense of God, his being and per-
fections, and government of the world, al^d the glory, reality,
and importance of divine and eternal things — even under such
a living sense of these things, as that they are fnnly believed^
and are made to influence them as though they were seen :
Hence they are said to look at things xuhich are unseen.. ..II.
Cor. iv. 18 — To see him who is invisible. ...Heb. xi. 27 — And
are said to xvalk by faith. ...W. Cor. v. 7 : And this seems to be
the meaning of the word faith, as it is used in f Itb. xi. where
we read of what Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and jVIoses, did by faith. Their faith was the substance of
things hoped for^ and evidence of things not .sce7i ; i. e. it made
divine and eternal things, as it were, subsist, in all their glory
and importance, before their minds, and appear as evident as
though they were seen, (ver. 1.) — 2. It is the way of godly
men to live under a spiritual sense of the divine all-sufficiency,
whereby they are influenced y?/-;;;/// to believe that God is able to
do all things for them, and be all to them, which they can pos-
sibly need in time and to eternity ; by all which, they are influ-
enced to live in a way of continual dcpendance upon him for all
things : And tnis is what, in the book of Psalms and elsewhere,
is called trusting in the Lord^ ivaiting and kxnwig upon the
Lordy making him our refuge. This temper is expressed in
Psal. Ixxiii. 2j, 26.. .Whom have I in heaven but thee ? And there
is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My fesh and my

402 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

heart faileth : But God is the strength of my hearty and my por-
tion for ever — And ver, 28.. ../if is good for me to draw near
to God: I have put my trust in the Lord.— ^3. It is the way of
godly men to live under a spiritual sense of God, as the great
Governor of the world, to whom it belongs to maintain the
rights of the god-head, and the honor of the law ; and under
a sense of themselves as poor sinners, worthy only of destruc-
tion, according to law and justice^ and too bad to be pitied or
to have any mercy shown them, without some sufficient salvo
to the divine honor ; and under a sense of Christ as a Mediator
appointed to be a propitiation for sin, to declare God's righte-
ousness and secure the divine honor, and so open a way wherein
God might be just and yet justify the sinner that believes in
Jesus — even under such a living sense of these things, as that
they are firmly believed; whereby they are influenced not to
draw nigh to God in their own names, emboldened by their
own goodness, but only in the name of Christ, depending en-
tirely upon him, and emboldened only by his worth and merits,
mediation and intercession, to look for acceptance in the sight
of God : Hence, because of this dependance^ they are said to
pray in Christ's name. ..1o\\n xvi. 23-^To have access to God by
Aiw....Eph. ii. 18 — -To come to God through himi..,Yith. vii. 25
— To believe in God by him....l. Pet. i. 21— ^ And are represent-
ed as being emboldened by his worth and merits, mediation
and intercession, to approach the Majesty of heaven. <..^/?^. iv.
16, and x. 19 : And now this is called a cotning to Christ.. ..John
vii. 37 — A receiving him. ... John i; 12^^A believing in Christ
....John iii. 15, 16 — A believing on Christ*. ..John iiii 18, 36— *-
A believing iti his name.. ..John i. 12— And a trusting in
Christ... Eph. i. 12, 13 : And this is that act of faith by which we
are justified and entitled to life, as is evident from Rom^ iii. 24,
25, 26, where it is, by the Apostle, calledya/7A in Christ^s blood.
The Apostle considers God as the righteous Governor of the
world, (chap.'i. 18) — all mankind as being guilty before God,
(chap. iii. 9 — 19)- -Christ as being setforthto be a propitiation
for sin, (ver. 25) That God might be just and yet justify , &c«

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 4Cki

(ver. 26) — And affirms that we 2irt justified by free grace through
Me REDEMPTION that IS in Jesus Christy (ver. 24) — by faith
without the deeds of the law (ver. 28), being considered in our-
selves as UNGODLY, (chap. iv. 5) : And \\\\s justifying faith he
calls faith in Christ's blood ; because it was principally by the
death of Christ that the ends of moral government were an-
swered, and so law and justice satisfied, and a way opened for
the honorable exercise of divine grace. But although the word
faith be thus used in scripture in these different senses, yet we
are to remember that these various exercises of a godly soul
are connected together, and always concomitant with one anoth-
er— ^)'ea,and, in some respects, implied in each other ; and per-
haps sometimes all these actings of soul are designed by the
word faith; nevertheless they are evidently, in their own na-
ture, so distinct, as that they may be conceived of as distinct
acts of the soul. And it may also be noted that the two first of
these, viz. a firm belief of divine truths^ ^nd a hearty reliance on
the divine all-su^cicncy, are acts of faith common to angels as
well as saints ; but the last, which immediately respects Christ
as Mediator, is peculiar to penitent, returning sinners : The two
first are common to every holy creature ; for all such do, in a firm
belief of divine truths, live in an entire dependance upon God,
the infinite fountain of all good : but the last is peculiar to s/;i-
yjJcreatures, who, because they are sinful, need a mediator to
make way for the honorable exercise of the divine goodness to-
wards them. Those who never were sinners may receive all
things, from the free grace and self-moving goodness of the di-
vine nature, without a mediator ; but those who have been sin-
ners perhaps will receive all through a mediator, to eternity. .
10. A heart to love God supremely, live to him ultimately,
and delight in him superlatively.. ..to love our neighbors as our-
selves....to hate every false way....tobe huml)le, meek, weaned
from the world, heavenly-minded. ...to be thankful for mercies
.•..patient under afflictions*. ..to love enemies. ...to forgive inju-
ries, and, in all things, to do as he would be done by ; — s.
heart for all this, I say, is always in exact proportion to the de-

404- TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

gree of true faith : for the same views of our own wretched-
ness....of God.. ..of Chi-ist....of the way of salvation by free
grace through him.. ..of the glor}', reality, and importance of
divine and eternal things, which lay the foundation for true faith,
and always accompany the exercise of faith, do, at the same time,
lay the foundation for this divine temper : And besides, this
divine temper is what every true believer feels to be the fittest
and happiest thing in the world, and, as such, longs for it, and
goes to God to have it increased and strengthened j and, be-
ing unworthy to go in his own name,* he goes in Christ's
name : so that the obtaining more and more of this divine
temper is one main end of his exercising faith in Christ : And
whatsoever he asks the Father in Christ's name, he receives.
God is readier to give his holy spirit to such an one, than pa-
rents are to give bread to their children.. ..yoAw xvi. 23 — MaU
vii. 11 : and therefore every true believer does obtain the end
of his faith ; and not only has, but grows in this divine temper,
and is governed by it, and brings forth fruit according to it :
and thus shsxvs his faith by his Tvorks^ according to St. James's
dozXxine. ...yaraes ii : And herein true faith stands distinguish-
ed from all counterfeits. Never had a hypocrite a spiritual
sense of that ineffable beauty of the divine nature, which lies at

* Uti'aortky to go in bis own name. As thus, if, in prayer, I offer up this
petition, " Lord, enable me to love thee with all my heart !" — it implies,
(1) That I do not love God with all my heart, notwithstanding the infi-
nite obligations I am under to do so ; for which defect I am infinitely to
blame, and deserve an infinite punishment. ...to be instantly driven from
God's presence forever, and spurned to hell as a creature fit only for de-
struction— (2) It implies that all the external manifestations which God
has made of himself to me in his works and word, and all the external
means he has used with nne, are not able to win my heart wholly to God ;
so great is iny sottishness and alienation from the Deity, and love to the
-world and sin : And now, surely, such a vile wretch cannot have a thought
of any mercy from God, on the account of any goodness in me ; yea, ra-
ther I ann too bad to be pitied, unless there be some sufficient salvo to the
divine honor. How, therefore, can God give me the greatest of gifts,
even the sanctifying influences of his holy spirit, but through the great
Mediator, consistently with his honor as moral Governor of the world :
Now, therefore, being thus unworthy to go to God in iny own name, I go
in Christ's name; as knowing that, through him, God can exercise his in-
finite, self-moving goodness co the vilest of creatures, consistently with his
honor; although law and justice call for their immediate destruction, con-
sidered as in themselves.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 405

the foundation of all the experiences of the true saint, and from
whence all true holiness originally spi-ings. The formalist
may, from legal fears and mercenary hopes, be so strict and
conscicncious in his ways, as to think himself a choice good
man : and the enthusiast^ from a finn persuasion of the pardon
of his sins, and the love of Christ, may be so full of joy and
love, zeal and devotion, as to think himself a most eminent
saint : but there is nothing of the nature of true holiness in ei-
ther ; for it is self and nothing but self that is the principle,
centre, and end of all their religion : They do not believe in
Christ, that through him they may return home to God, and
be consecrated to him forever, and obtain grace to do all his will :
Thcv do not know God, or care for him, but are wholly taken
up about their own interest. That Moravian maxim, " That
salvation consists in the forgiveness of sins," exhibits the true
picture of the heart of the best hypocrite in the world ; while
that in II. Cor. iii. 18, is peculiar to the godly.. .J'Fi? all with
open face beholding^as in a glass^ the glory of the Lord^ are chan-
ged into the same image, from glorij to glory.

11, And lastly — In true believers there is a principle of faith,
which abides and grows, and perseveres to the end. That spir-
itual sense of God. ..of themselves. ..of Christ, and of the gos-
pel-way of salvation through him, which lays the foundation for
the first act of faith, becomes habitual : They have a spiritual
understanding to discern spiritual things, (I. Cor. ii. 12) — They
were once darkness^ but arc now light i?i the Lord ; and hence
they are called children of the light and of the day... .Y.\)\\. v. 8 —
I. Thes. v. .5. Spiritual light does not come upon believers like
flashes of lightning at midnight — now and then a flash, and then
as dark as ever again ; but their light is habitual, like day-light;
And from the first dawning of divine light at the hour of con-
\ei-sion, that day-break of heaven, their light shines more and
inore^ year after year, to the perfect day... .Fvov.'iv. 18: The
fl\ing clouds in the day time, although thev may hide the clear
shining of the sun for a while, yet they do not make it dark as
in the night ; yea, the thickest clouds are not able to do it. —

406 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

Believers are never destitute of a spiritual sense of God and
Christ, and divine things, as other men are : They are chil-
dren of the light and of the day — and not of the night and of
darkness : The spirit of God does not come upon them by fits,
as it did upon Balaam ; but dwells in them, (Rom. viii. 9)—
And they groxv in grace ^ and in the knoxvledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. ...II. Pet. iii. 1 8 : If at any time they should
have no more sense of divine things than the unregenerate, they
would be as much without grace — they would not differ from
the stony-ground-hearerSy who fell away : And now their di-
vine light being thus habitual, growing and persevering, hence
their faith is so too. Through the course of their lives it is
their way to grow more and more sensible of their sinfulness....
the sinfulness of sin.. ..their unworthiness, ill-desert, poverty,
and absolute need of free grace and of Jesus Christ : And they
also see more and more into the gospel-way of salvation.... the
glory and safety of it.... its suitableness to exalt God, magnify
the law, discountenance sin, humble the sinner,and glorify grace
— and more and more come off from all self-dependance, to an
entire reliance upon Jesus Christ, and the free grace of God
through him ; seeking to be found not in themselves, but in
Christ — not as having on their own righteousness, but his...,
Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9 : They more fully approve of the law of nature
and of the original constitution with Adam, as being holy, just,
and good : they more fully get into a way of looking upon
themselves as God does — as being naturally, and in themselves,
fallen, sinful, guilty, justly condemned, helpless, and undone:
they see more and more of their infinite obligation to perfect
holiness, and of the reasonableness of eternal damnation be-
ing threatened for the least sin, and of the insufficiency of
all their best doings to make any satisfaction for sin : the
grace of God, as revealed in the gospel, appears more
rich, and free, and wonderful : they feel more and more of
their need of Christ, his worth and merits, mediation and in-
tercession ; and of their utter unfitness to aipproach the Majes-
ty of heaven any other way but by him : — they feel themselves

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 407

more full of wants, and farther off from any worthiness to re-
ceive, and yet more and more into the temper of humble beg-
gars, and into a way of coming to God more entirely in Christ's
name. At first conversion such a temper begins ; and this tem-
per grows like the mustard-seed, and spreads like the leaven^
and is like a xvell of living ivater^ which is never dr}', but is
springing vp into everlasting life....Miit. xiii. 31 — 33, ...John
iv. 14 : And thus the true believer abides in Christy as a living
branch does in the vine...]ohn xv — And lives the life he lives in
thefcih, by faith on the Son of G5r/...Gal. ii. 20 — Being kept
by the power ofGod^ through faith^ unto salvation,..!. Pet. i. 5.
And this is the thing (I may observe by the way) which
makes grace in the heart more plainly discernible, and its dif-
ference from all counterfeits more clearly manifest ; and which,
therefore, clears up to believers the spiritual state of their souls
,,. .answers all doubts. ..removes all difficulties, and brings them
to be settled and satisfied as to their good state. Many spend
their lives in searching whether their law-zvork was right....
whether their ^rA7 acf of faith was right, &c.... But there is
nothing like growing in grace, to put it out of doubt that we
have grace, and to keep our evidences clear : And indeed this
is the only way.. ..II. Fet. i. 5 — 10.

And dius we see, in general^ wherein a genuine compliance
with the gospel does consist, and particularly what is the na-
ture of a saving faith : And, from what has been said, we may
be able to distinguish true faith from every counterfeit ; particu-
larly, from what has been said, we may easily see the falseness
of these two sorts of faith, whereby thousands are deceived
jind ruined.

1. The legal hypocrite's faith, who, being entirely devoid
of the divine life, and of those spiritual views of God. ..of
himself.. .of Christ, and of the way of salvation, which the
true believer has, is only animated by self-love, the fear of
hell, and the hope of heaven, to attend upon the external du-
ties of religion, and to try to love God and be sincere, in hopes

of acceptance in the sight of God, if he endeavors to do as

3 E

408 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED,' AND

well as he can. He thinks God has promised to accept such»
and that it would not be just for God to require more of him
than he can do : He does not see how bad he is ; he hates to
think of lying at the mere mercy of God, and cannot endure
the doctrine of div-ine sovereignty; he is quite insensible of
his need of free grace and of Jesus Christ: However, he says,
he trusts wholly in the merits of Christ for eternal life, and
does not pretend to merit any thing by all his doings : And
thus being quieted with the hopes of heaven, he goes on in
the rounds of duty, a stranger to real communion with God,
and to all the exercises of the divine life. He does duties
enough just to keep his conscience quiet, and has faith
enough just to keep him from seeing that he rests entirely up-
on his own righteousness: and, by the means, his duties and
his faith serve only to keep him secure in sin, and insensible
of his perishing need of Jesus Christ and of converting grace.
Let me expostulate the case a little with such a one : And,
First^ Can a man sincerely comply with the gospel, when, at
the same time, he does not cordially approve of the law, as holy,
just and good, seeing the gospel, in its whole constitution, is
evidentlv founded upon that supposition ? You do not like the
law ; you think it is unjust. The law requires }"OU to love God
with all your heart, (Mat. xxii. 37.) and threatens damnation
for the least sin, (Gal. iii. 10.) But you say it is not just for
God to require more than you can do, and then damn you for
not doing : but now the gospel does not mean to make void
this law, but to establish it.. ..Rom. iii. 31 : It would be im-
possible, therefore, if you did but rightly understand the case,
that you should like the gospel any better than you do the law.
And, Secondly^ Do you think that God will pardon you, when,
at the same time, you will not acknowledge the law to be holy,
just, and good, by which you stand condemned ? What, par-
don you, when you justify yom'self, and condemn his law ! —
What, paition you, when you will not own you need a pardon !
Yea, when you standi to it, it would not be fair to punish you !
Yea, when you are ready to fly in the viery face of the law and

DIBTINGWISHLD TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 409

of the law-giver, and to cry out, injustice^ injustice ! No, no,
proud, stubborn, guilty wretch, you must come down first,
.and lie in the dust before the Lord, and approve the law in the
very bottom of your heart, and own the sentence just by which
you stand condemned. ...Lz^/ic xviii. 13 — Rom. iii. 1L». You
must come down and own the law to be good, or else God
must come down and own the law to be bad : Or, if God in-
sists upon it that the law is holy, just and good, and you still
insist upon it that it is not, it is impossible that God should
pardon you, or that there should be any reconciliation ■. God
must, of necessity, hate you, because you hate his law j and you
will forever hate God for making such a law. And, Thirdly.^
How can you pretend, all this while, to trust only in Christ for
pardon and eternal life, when, as it is plain, from your own
words, you sec no need of Christ ? For if, as you say, " God
*' cannot justly require any more of you than you can do,"
what do you want Christ for ? You can do enough yourself.
Do you want Christ to make satisfaction for your short-com-
ings and imperfections ? But, according to your scheme, God
cannot require any more satisfaction than you can make yourr
self; for this would be to require more than you can do, and
to damn you for not doing. Do you want him to purchase
the favor of God and eternal life I But you can do all that God
can require ; for you can do what you can do, and that, ac-
coi'ding to )our scheme, is all that God can require : Or, do
you want Christ to purchase an abatement of the law ? But if
Christ had never died, you do not tlaink that God could, in
justice^ require more of you than you can do: ^^'hat need,
therefore, upon your scheme, was there of Christ ? And did
he not die in vain ? For if righteousness come bij the kau^ then
Christ is dead i?! fa/';/. ..Gal. ii. xxi. Now, can your faith in
Christ be any more than a rnerefuncij^ when, as it is evident,
you see no need of him? And, l^csides. Fourthly^ What
good does your faith do you ? Docs it luork by love ? Does it
purify your heart ? Does it overcome the ivorld ? ...Whx ^ nothing
less. It onl^- serves to keep you secure and quiet in an unrc-

*10 TRUE RELIGION DELIKEATEB, AND

newed state, and to make you hope all 13 well, while you keep
on in a round of external duties, strangers to God and the
divine life : In a word, your duties and your faith join togeth-
er to keep conscience asleep, and to render you insensible of
your need of Christ and of converting grace. ..i?0OT. ix. 30,
31, 32. Oh, how sad it is, so many thousands should be de-
ceived in so plain a case ! It can surely be attributed to nodiing
short of this, that men love darkness rathe?- than light; they
love to frame such a scheme of religion in their heads, as suits
the temper of their hearts : And, because their scheme suits-
them, therefore they firmly believe it to be divine. But to
proceed,

2. From what has been said, we may easily see the false-
ness of the evangelical hypocrite's faith, who, although he
makes a much greater show, and is more confident, yet has
not a jot better foundation : He has been greatly awakened,
perhaps, and terrified, and seemingly brought off from his own
righteousness, and humbled, and then has received great light
and comfort, and has had many an hour of joy and ravishment.
For thus was the case — In the depth of his darkness and sor-
row, light shined all around him ; and, to his thinking, he saw
heaven opened, and the Lord sitting upon his throne, and
Christ at his right hand, and heard those words, Come^ ye bles-
sed of my Father^ inherit the kingdom prepared for you front
the foundation of the -world: Be of good cheer ^ thy sins are
forgiven: Fearnot^ little flocks, it is my Father^ s good pleasure
to give you the kingdom* Oh^ thou a^icted^ tossedivith tempests,
and not comforted^ behold^ Ixvill lay thy stones xvithfair colors,
&c. — Or, it may be, he saw Christ on the cross, with his
blood running from his side, and hands and feet ; or, perhaps
he saw a light in his chamber : It may be, he had one scrip-
ture, and, it may be, ten or twenty going, until he was as full as
he could hold, and even ready to cry, Lord^ stay thy hand:
As to all these things, there is an endless variety-^ — but, in the
following particulars, there is a greater agreement. (J.) They
have a discovery of Christ's love to them in particular — that

BISTINGUISHRD FROM ALT. COUNTERFEITS. 411

he died for them in particular — that their sins are pardoned, &c.
(2;)- The essence of their first act of faith consists in a firm
persuasion that their sins are forgiven — that Christ died for
them in particular, or the like. (3.) All their after-discove-
ries and after-acts of faith are of the same nature with the
first. (4.) This faith, from a principle of self-love, naturally
fills them full of jov, and love, and zeal, and lays the founda-
tion of all their good frames, and of idl their religion, (5.)
Doubting the goodness of their state, when they are dead and
carnal, is, in their account, unbelief, and a great sin, and to be
watched and prayed against, as a thing of the most destructive
tendency. Now, some, who have a few discoveries, do, in a
few months, lose all thtir religion, and come to feci and live
much like the rest of the world: Others hold out longer. —
Some, after they have lain dead one, two, three, five or ten
years, just as it happens, will have what they call a n«w dis-
coverv, and be as full as ever — while others continue in their
irreligious courses.

And here I may observe— (1.) That the greater discoveries
(as they call them) they have, the more proud and conceited
they are, and the more do they want to have all the town admire
them. — (2.) The longer they continue to be livehj^ the more
do they grow in pride and self-righteousness ; and feeling
themselves to be exceedingly good, they are emboldened to
hiake very free with the Almightv, as being his peculiar favor-
ites, and the best of men : God,, I thank thct\ I am not as ether
men, — (3.) And yet it ir=. natural to esteem themselves some
"of the most humble creatures in the world. — (4.) It is impos-
sible to convince them of their error ; because the immediate
witness of the spirit of God, as they think, assures them that
they are right : and, therefore, all who do not look upon things
and feel just as they do, are certainly blind and carnal, and so
not to be regarded : they are bound to believe God before
man. Urge scripture against them, and they are unmoved ;
because the spirit does not tell them that it means so : The
plainest texts are not regarded, if contrary to their spirit. Urge

412 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

reason against them, and demonstrate a point ever so clearly,
and they are unmoved ; because that is all carnal reasvn. Take
much pains with them, and be ever so kind and friendly, and
they are the more established ; because they think they are
persecuted: Or, if they are sometimes shocked, and almost
convinced, yet they are, in a few days, more settled than ever,
by a new discovery, and a multitude oi scriptures, misapplied
by the prkice of darkness, assuring them that they are right.
And now they resolve never to doubt again, and get invincibly
set in their way. — (5.) If, after awhile, they lose all their reli-
gion, and are dead, and lie dead for whole months and years
together, yet still they are as confident as ever : " For," say
they, " David, and Solomon, and Peter fell, and the best are
*' dead sometimes ; and how long a good man may lie dead
*' none can tell : God may leave his children out of sovereign-
*' ty, and without Christ we can do nothing ; we must wait for
*\the spirit, and not call God's faithfulness into question, bc-
*' cause of our deadness — as if his faithfulness depended upon
*' our good frames." And so now, having, as they suppose,
Christ to pardon their sins, and save their souls, and some lust
to content their hearts, they sleep on secure and quiet : Or,
if they are terrified at any time, and begin to doubt, 0 thou of
little faith, wherefore dost thou doubt ? or some such scripture,
will quiet and hush all to sleep again : And thus, and after this
sort, things go with them. And now out of such rotten hearts
grow up all the Antinomian, Familistic, and Quakerish errors
which have troubled the christian church : For they get their
principles of religion, not out of the Bible^ but out of their ex-
periences ; and are careful to cut out a scheme in their heads,
to suit the religion of their hearts : and because it suits them,
therefore they firmly believe it. And because their scheme is
not rational^ and cannot bear to be examined by reason^ there-
fore they cry down reason^ and say it is carnal : And they cry
down human learning ; and the more ignorant, the more de-
vout. And because their scheme is not contained in the scrip-
tures^ therefore they have no regard to the plain tnsanin^ of

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERTEITB. 413

scripture, but turn all into allegories^ and what they call the
spiritual meaning ; and so run into an hundred whims, Such as
best suit the temper of their hearts.

Now the great misery of this sort of hypocrites is, that not-
withstanding all their terrors, yet they were never thoroughly
convinced of their fallen, sinful, guilty, undone state by nature :
and, notwithstanding all their discoveries, yet they are still
spiritually blind, and neither know God, nor themselves, nor
Christ, nor the gospel-way of salvation by free grace through
him : and, notwithstanding all their confidence, and joy, and
high religious frames, yet they are as destitute of faith, repent-
ance, and holiness, as ever they were : And it is a lie, which
the father of lies has made them believe — which lies at the bot-
tom of all their religion, and is the very foundation of it all.
All their purest joy, and love, and zeal, arise from thc'iv faith :
All their faith consists in believing that their sins are forgiven:
And all the foundation which their faith is originally built up-
on, is an immediate revelation — tlie trutli of which they dare
not call in question, for fear of giving the lie to the holy spirit,
from whom, they say, they know it came. But how could the
spirit of God reveal it to them, th^t Christ loved them^ and that
their sins xvcre forgiven^ and hereby lay the foundation for their
first act of faith, whenas, before the first act of faith, they were
actually wxxder co7idem7iation... the wrath ofGod^ and the curneof
the law ?...John iii. 18, 36 — Gal. iii. 10. The thing revealed
to them was not true ; and therefore was not from God, but
from the devil. Now this false revelation laid the foundation
for their faith, and their faith laid the foundation for their jov,
and for all their religion. A spiritual sight and divine sense
of the great truths presupposed and revealed in the gospel, is
the foundation of the godly man's faith and holiness ; but a par-
ticular thing, no where revealed in the Bible, is their founda-
tion— yea, ^falsehood ih:\t is directly contrary to what the ,»crip-
mres plainly teach : And yet, alas, they know they are right ;
they are, they say, as certain of it as they are of their own ex-
istence. How great is the power of delusion ! How awful n

414 TRUE E,ELIG10N DELINEATED, AND

the case of a poor creature forsaken of God ! II. Thes. li. 10,
11, 12. ..,T/iei/ received 7iot the love of the truth., that they might
be saved : And., for this cause., God shall send them strong delusion^
that they should believe a Liz.. ..That they all might be damned^
xoho believed not the truth .,but had pleasuYe inimrighteounnes&f
— But to conclude.

From what has been said concernhig the nature of a true
failh and a genuine compUance with the gospel, we may not
only see the falseness of these two sorts of faith, but also of all
other counterfeits, which ai-e almost in an endless variety :
For, between these two extremes of a/e^a/and evangelical hy^-.
ocrite, there lie a thousand bye-paths, in which poor sinners
wander to everlasting perdition ; in the mean while, blessing
themselves that they are neither Arminians nor Antinomians,
nor deluded as such and such are — although they neither know
God, nor themselves, nor Christ, nor the way of salvation
through him ; and really are as destitute of faith, repentance,
and holiness, as the most deluded creature in the world.
SECTION nil.

SHOWING WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE EVERLASTING LIFE
PROT.IISED TO BELIEVERS, AND HOW FAITH INTERESTS US
IN CHRIST.

I am now, in the last place,

V. To coi\s\(\&Y the promise of everlasting lifcf which is, in,
the gospel, made to true believers. God so loved the xvorld^ that
hegave his only begotten Son, that xvhosoever believeth in him.
should 7iot PERISH, but have everlasting life. In this «;er?>
lasting life is implied,

1. The everlasting love and favor of God. Whereas, % Mf:
disobedience of one, mamjwere made sinners, and judgment came
upon all to condem7iation. by virtue of the original constitution
with Adam, {Rom. v. 18, 19,) — and whereas, by and according
to tise Iaav of nature, the xuhole xvorld stands guilty before Gody
(Rom. iii. 19,) — Now, by virtue of a new constitution, estab-
lished by the God of heaven, the great Governor of the world,
called the gospel, or covenant of grace, it is appointed, and, as

DISTIKGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 415

it were, confirmed by the broad seal of heaven, that any, who-
soever they are, among all the guilty race of Adam, who fall in
with this gospel-proposal, and venture their all upon this new
plan.. ..this new foundation.. ..this precious corner-stone, Jesus
Christ, the great Mediator between God and man, shall thence-
forth stand free from that double condemnation, and be entitled
unto the everlasting love and favor of God, the great Governor
of the world. John iii. 18 — Rom. v. 1, ^....Tlierefcre^ bei?ig
Justified by faith^ xve have peace with God, through our Lord
yenus Chriat: By whom also we have access hy faith into this
grace wherein we standi and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

2. The other part of this everlasting life consists in and rc-
tults from the everlasting indwelling of the holy spirit as a sanc-
tifer. This, which Adam lost by the fall, is, upon our union
with Christ, the second Adam^ by virtue of this new constitu-
tion, restored, never to be lost any more. John vii. c>B...He
that believeth on me^ as the scripture saith, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. Ver. 39... This spake he cf the spirit^
which they that believe on him should receive : And therefore
the gift of the holy ghost is, by the Apostles, (Acts ii. 38.)
promised upon the condition of faith:* And, therefore, as
God did, of old, dwell in the holy of holies in the Jewish
temple, in the cloud of glory, so now, henceforth, does he
dwell in the believer's heart by his holy spirit, as a vital prin-
ciple and spring of divine life there. .. John xv. 1 — 5 ; And hence
believers are called the temple of God.,. 1. Cor. iii. 17. The
ipirit of God is said to dwell in them, (Rom. viii. 9) — to lead
them, (ver. 14) — to give them an everlasting freedom from ihe
power of sin, (ver. 2) : so that sin shall not have dominion over

• From the nature oi justifying faith, it is evident that regeneration must
ht prior to xhcfrtt act of it; but although the sinner be regenerated by the
gracious influences of the holy spirit before faith, yet it is after faith and
union with Christ that the soul has a covenant-rigkt to the indwelling of
the holy spirit ; which covenant-right lays a foundation for the indwelling
of the holy spirit to be conttant and everlasting ; and this lays a foundation
for an abiding principle and proper babitoi grace : So that, although /-f^en-
eration be bef/re faith, yet a confirmed habit of grace is after. It results
from our union with Christ. ...^fjAnxv. 1 — 5 : And is in scripture promised
upon the condition of faith.... ^o.in v. 24. and vii. 38.

3 F

416 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

the?n...»'Rom. vi. 14: And the water (says Christ) which JxviU
give you, shall be in you a well oj" water springing up into ever*
[anting ///e....John iv. 14.

It is plain, from the whole tenor of the gospel, that the ever»
lasting love and favor of God, together with the everlasting in-
awellirig of the holy spirit as a sanctifer^ which are the two
great things which a poor sinner wants, are the two great things
promised in the covenant of grace. St. Paul, having explained
the ntUure of the gospel-way of salvation by free grace through
Jesus Christ, and shown that faith is the only condition of the
new covenant, in the four firft chapters of his epistle to the Ro-
mans, proceeds to show the benefits accruing to believers,—
And firsts they sire Justified^ and have peace with God, (chap, v.)
Secondly^ they are delivered from the power of sin, (chap, vi.)
And akhough they are, in this life, continually in a state of
spiritual confliaand warfare, (chap, vii.) yet they are influen-
ced, and led, and governed by the spirit of God, which dwells
in them, (chap, viii.) And now all things shall work for their
good, nnd they shall be brought to glory at last, (ver. 28 — 39.)
So again, see both these summed up in lieb. viii. 10, 11, 12....
For this is the covenant that I will make xuith the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord : I will put my laws into their
miiid.andwrite them in their hearts : And I will be to them a
God, and they shall be to 7ne a people : And they shall not teach
every vian his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Knoxu
the Lord ; for all shallhiow me, from the least to the greatest. —
Here i? the everlasting indwelling of the holy spirit, together
with what results therefrom : For Ixvill be mercifu unto their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities ruilll remem-
ber no more...^\e.Y. 12. And here is the everlasting love and
favor of God.

And now, seeing, by this new constitution...this covenant of
grace, true believers are thus entitled to the everlasting love
and favor of God, and to the everlasting indwelling of the holy
spirit, as sanctifier, in the perfect enjoyment of both which,
tternalUfe^ in heaven, will consist j hence, therefore, they are

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 417

said to]have life^ yea, to have eternal l/fe^immtdh.tcly upon ihtir
believing in Christ. I. John v. 12.... He that hath the Son., hath
HYE — John ii;. 3d.... He that believeth on the Son hath ever-
lasting LIFE — John V. 24!.... Hath everlasting life, and
shall 7iot come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto
LIFE — John xvii. 3.. ..This is life eternal, that t/icij might
know thee^ the only true God^ and jfesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. Eternal life is begun in them, and heaven begins to
dawn in their souls : And believers, being thus made the sub-
jects of the everlasting love and favor of God, and of the ever-
lasting indwelling of the holy spirit, are hence called the chil-
dren of God... .John i. 12 : For God loves them as children^ and
they love him as a Father : And this filial frame of spirit^
whereby they are disposed to reverence, fear, love, trust in, and
obey God as a Father. ...Wve upon him, and live to him as a
Father ; — I say, this filial frame of spirit is called the spirit of
adoption^ in opposition to that servile frame of spirit they used
to be under the bondage of, before faith ^ and before theij had
received the Hohj Ghost. Rom. viii. 15. ...For ye have not re-
ceived the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye have received
the spirit of adoption^ whereby we cry ^ Abba, Father,

And this filial frame of spirit ht\v\^ peculiar to believers....
that which none but believers have, and which yet is common
to all believers ; and this filial frame of spirit being that where-
in believers bear the image of their heavenly Father^ each one
resembling the children of a King ; for they view things, ac-
cording to their measure, as God does, and love what God loves,
and make his interest their interest, and are taken up with the
same designs ; — I say, this filial frame ofspirit being such a yjc-
culiar and remarkable thing, and that wherein they so nearly
resemble God, and being also the immediate product of the in-
dwelling and influence of the holy spirit, therefore, in scripture,
it is spoken of as the distinguishing badge of a true believer....
as a mark whereby God's children and Christ's sheep are to be
known ; This is what is called the seal of the spirity in Eph. i.
13. And this seal is tht rvitness^evtaencc^ and /;rc(?/' which

418 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

the holy spirit gives to our consciences^ that we are the children
of God....Kom, viii. 16. This filial frame of spirit is what sat^
isjies and assures the children of God, They feel the very
temper of children towards God : They feel a heart to revep-
ence and fear, love and honor him as a Father — a heart to go
to him....to trust in him....to be in subjection to him, and obey
him as a Father : And by this they know they are his chilp
dren.

Mar\'ellous is the change which the poor sinner passes
through in that awful hour of inexpressible solemnity, when he
first comes into the awful presence of the dread Majesty ojF
heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ, the glorious iVlediator,
venturing his all for eternity upon this sure foundation.
And now, from this time forward, he is quite another creature^
under quite new circumstances : As when orphan children, left
without a guardian or a guide, from running into riot and iuduU
ging themselves in all extravagances, are taken and brought into
the family of awise and good man, who makes them his childrea
....instills nev/ principles and a new temper into them, and puts
them under a new discipline, by which all things become new to
them — so, here, from being without God and without hope ia
the world, and from running to eternal ruin, we are taken and
brought into God's family.. ..have a new temper given to us,,,,
have a new father, and are under a new government. God's
fatherly eye is upon us every hour, and he is daily laboring to
bring us up to his hand. ...to train us up to his mind.., .to make
us such as he would have us be. He contrives, and takes all
manner of ways, by his spirit, and by his providence, and by
his word, to make us more serious, spiritual, and heavenly....
more humble, weaned from the world, and devoted to God*
And thus he pur get h us, that we may bring forth more fruit...,
John XV. 2 : He enlightens.. .he leads. ..he teaches....he quick*
ci3S...he strengthens.. ..he comforts \xs....Heb. viii. 10, 11, 12—
Isai, 40, 31 : When we want it, he instructs us... I. John 2. 27
— James'i, 5 : When we want it, he corrects ns....Heb, xii. 6:
And when we need it, he encourages and comforts us. ..II. Cor.

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUKTERFEITS. 41$!

?cU. 9. When we love him and keep his commands, he man-
ifests himself unto us.... yoA;* xiv. 21 : And when our spirituc
al enemies are too strong for us, and our heart and our strength
fail, our steps are slipping, our feet just gone — in the distress-
ing juncture he puts underneath his everlasting arms.. ..he take*
us by the right hand.. ..he prevents us by his grace ; and before
W€ are aware, we have gotten the victory,and btgin to say. Whom
have we in heavenbut theeP Andtliereis none on earth we desire
bemden thee. Our Jleah and our heart faileth ; but God is the
strength oj our hearty and our portion forever : And O, It is
good for Wi to draw near to (jroc/.... Psalm Ixxiii : And if at any
time we forsake him, he follows after us, and visits our trans*
greosions xvith the rod, and our iniquities with .stripe* ; but nev-
er breaks his covenant with us.... Psalm Ixxxix. 30 — 34. He
hedges up our xuay with thorns, and brings us to a hearty return
;,.Hos, ii. 6,7 : And thus we are kept by the power ofGod^
through faith, unto salvation. ...I, Pet. i. 5 — and finally are
brought to the full vision and perfect fruition of God to all eter-
nity..../iJowi. viii. 30.

Now faith in Christ entitles us to all this, by virtue of that
divine constitution which we call the gospel, or covenant of
grace — by virtue of that new and li\ ing way of salvation which
God, the great Governor of the world, has contrived and pro»
vided, ratified and confirmed, the sum of which is contained
in John iii. 16 — Which constitution God has been pleased to
confirm by an oath, to the intent we might have strong conso-
lation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set he-^
fore us. He has said. He that believeth shall be saved, and he
has confirmed it by an oath, to remove all doubt, and to give
the highest possible assurance... .ff<?i. vi. 17, 18. And now,
being assured that this way of salvation maybe depended upon,
as being contrived and confirmed by God himself ; hence, here
wc rest secure and sale. We know that this new constitution
must be from God, because the whole plan is altogether divine:
it is just like God : God cannot but be pleased with it : it is
perfectly suited to exalt God,...to magnify the law.. ..to dis-

420 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

countenance sin.... to humble the sinner, and to glorify grace :
and if sinners are ever saved, it is infinitely fit that they should
be saved in such a way, and in no other. There is such an ap-
parent resemblance of the divine nature and perfections in this
whole plan, as is sufficient to assure the heart that it is from
God. None but God could be the author of it.. ..II. Cor. iv.
5, 4, 6 : And being, in the frst place, assured that it is from
God, we have, in the second place ^ the highest assurance that
God will abide by it, and act according to it : For, Jirst^ we
\i2i\e.\\\?> promise ; Sind secondly^ we have his oath: So that
there can be no reasonable doubt remaining. And now, upon
this foundation, does the true believer build all his hopes and
expectations — ^here is the bottom of all : For if I am assured
that, by divine grace, I do rightly understand the gospel, and
am brought to a genuine cf^mpliance therewith, now, then, I
am safe^ if the gospel be true, and if that way of salvation may
CERTAINLY be depended on — 11 it be no cunningly devised fa-
ble^ but a waj' of God's own contrivance, and which he will
CERTAINLY abide by. A clear, rational, spiritual conviction
and assurance of this, is the very anchor of the soul, sure and
'stedfa$t....B.Gh. vi. 19.

If mankind had remained in a state of pure nature, i. e. un-
der no constitution at all. ...under nothing but merely thelaxo of
nature, i. e. to have been guided and directed to their duty,
and to have been rewarded or punished by God, only and mere-
ly b}' and according to the reason and nature of things — if this
had been the case, then, so long as every individual should be
continued in being by God, and should continue to love God
with all his heart, and obey him in every thing, so long every
individual would be perfectly happy : But then, God might,
without injustice, let one or all drop into non-existence, if he
pleased, and when he pleased, although perfectly holy.. .^o^xxii.
2, and xxxv. 7 : Or, if he was pleased to continue one and all
in being forever, yet, at what time soever any should commit
the least sin, that soul should immediately sink down into an
cternul hell....i?5m. vi. 23 — a thousand vears of nerfect obe-

DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 421

dience, by the mere law of nature, not entitling to ajiy
promise for the time to come. God's giving and continuing
being to us, and granting us advantages to know, and love, and
serve him, would render us infinitely indebted to God ; but
our knowing, loving, and serving God could not bring him at
all into debt to us.. ..Rom. xi. 33^ 36. Our doing so would
naturally render us happy, so long as we should continue to do
so ; but if, at any time, we should be guilty of the least defect,
all would be lost, and we undone forever.

But then, by and according to the constitution with Adam,
things were placed upon another footing. The eternal welfare
of mankind was suspended upon another condition : for, accord-
ing to this constitution, if Adam, the public head and repro-
sentative of mankind, had remained obedient for some certain
period of time, he and all his posterity would, by the free and
gracious promise of God, have been entitled to everlasting life ;
as, on the other hand, if he sinned, all would be exposed to
eternal death. But now, faith in Christ entitles us to eternal
life, by virtue of a new constitution, called the gospel^ or cove-
jlGHt of grace ^ made and confirmed by the God of heaven.

The perfect obedience of Adam, had he stood, would not
have entitled us to eternal life, notwithstanding he was our nat-
ural head, if he had not been made our representative by a di-
vine constitution : so the perfect obedience and sufTcrings of
Christ would not have freed us from condemnation and enti-
tled us to eternal life, whatever dependance we might have had
upon him, if, by a divine constitution, it had not been appoint-
ed and confimed that ht: that believcth shall be saved.

By and according to the law of nature^ our own personal obe-
dience would have recommended us to the favor of God, and
laid the foundation of our happiness, so long as we should have
continued in a state of sinless perfection.^By the first cove'
ruint^ the constitution with Adam, hi§ perfect obedience,lhrough
his appointed time of trial, would, by virtue of that constitu-
tion or covenant, have entitled us to everlasting life. — By ihe sec-
ond covenant ^ihc perfect righteousness of Christ, i\\Q second Ad-

422 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

aw, entitles all true believers to everlasting life, by and accor-
ding to this new and living way,

A perfect righteousness was necessary according to the law
of nature ; and a perfect righteousness is insisted upon in both
covenants. According to the law of nature, it was to be per-
formed/jer*o;jr.%; but, according to both covenants, it is ap-
pointed to be performed by a public head. — According to the
first covenant, we were to have been interested in the righu
eousness of our public head, by virtue of our union to him as
his posterit)'', for whom he was appointed to act.— According
to the second covenant, we are interested in the rigteousness of
Christ, our public head, by virtue of our union to him by faith.

Our faith is that whereby we unite to Christ ; — the act is an
uniting act. We disunite, separate from, and renounce that
to which we before were united, and did close with, and placed
our hopes upon, viz. our own righteousness — and are no more
emboldened by that^ to come into the presence of God : And
we unite to Christ, desiring to be found, not in ourselves, but
in him — not in our own righteousness, but in his.... /%//. iii. 8,
9 : And from him we take encouragement to draw nigh to
God ; we come in iiis vi\TAZ....Heb. iv. 16. And novv, by
virtue of a divine constitution, established by the Governor of
the world, all, who thus unite to Christ by faith, are considered
as being one with him, so as to have an interest in what he has
done and suiTei-ed in the character of a Mediator, as a public
person, so as, upon the account thereof, to be pardoned, and
received to favor, and entided to eternal life....^owi. v. 18, 19
— Eph. i. 6 — Rom. iii. 24, 25.

And now, this faith.. ..this uniting act, being the condition,
the onlt/ condition^ required on our part, by the covenant of
grace, we being justified by faith -without the deeds of the hnVy
htnct faith is said to beimputedtoics for righteousness,. ,.Kom,
iv — for righteousness^ i. e. for that whereby we stand right
according to the tenor of the new covenant, i. e. for a full com-
pliance with the condition of the new covenant. As perfect
obedience was a compliance with the covenantof works, so fj?ith

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 423

is a coifipliance of the covenant of grace. Now, as perfect
obedience, through his whole time of trial, would have been
imputed to Adam for righteousness^ i. e. for ay?^// compliance
with the condition of that covenant; so now faith is imputed
for righteousness^ i. e, for a full compliance with the conditioii
of this covenant : For St. Paul had but just been proving that
AVe ZTt justified by faith alone, xvithout the deeds of the Icnv ;
and now this being the only condition required, therefore he
says it is accounted as Sifull compliance with the new covenant
— i. e. it is imputed for righteousness. It being the only thing
•required as a condition of life, by the covenant of grace, hence
it is looked upon in the sight of God accordingly, as being
Tifull compliance with that covenant. The covenant of works
insisted upon perfect obedience, because Adam was to have
been justified merely bj', and wholly upon the account of, his
own virtue and goodness : And the covenant of grace insists
upon faith alone^ without the deeds of the laxi\ because now we
are justified, merely by, and wholly upon the account of, Christ's
virtue or righteousness, without regard to any goodness in us :
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justify
eth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness^ (Rom.
jv. 5) — i. e. for a ruLL compliance with the new covenant, xvith'
out the deeds ofthelaxv: For, as to a legal righteousness^ Christ
•is the end of the laxv for righteousness to them that believe....'Rom,
X. 5 : And, in that sense, we are not to be found in our own
righteousness, but in his.... Phil. iii. 8.

Thus, according to the law of nature, every man would have
been justified by his own personal righteousness : and accord-
ing to the first covenant, every child of Adam would have
been justified by Adam's righteousness, as public head : and
according to the second covenant, every believer is to be justi-
fied by Christ's righteousness, as another public head. The
first of these ways takes its rise from the reason and nature of
things ; but the second and third from the positive appointment
of God. Tiie angels, it seems, were dealt with according to
the first of these ways — onlv their state of probation, through

3 G

424 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

grace, not to be perpetual ; for, no doubt, those that stood are
now in a confirmed state : but mankind are dealt with accord-
ing to the second and third.

The first of these ways a fallen world pretend some liking to ;
but the other two have given great offence. " How is it right
*' we should be condemned for Adam's sin ? Or with what
*' propriety can we be justified on the account of Christ's right-
*' eousness ?" is the language of very many. " It is unjust to
*' condemn me for the sin of another, and absurd to justify me
*' for another's righteousness," say they. And as to the first
of these ways, they would have the law abated in what it re-
quires, and quite disannulled as to its threatening death for the
least sin : They would have what they call sincere obedience
admitted as a condition of life, and repentance to be accepted
in case of sin : so that an apostate world are naturally equally
at enmity against the first, second, and third, rightly understood :
For they think it full as unjust that God should damn us for
the least defect of perfect obedience, as for Adam's first sin.
And it is nothing but divine light can bring the heart of a sin-
ner sincerely to approve of the law of nature, of the constitu-
tion with Adam, and of the gospel with Christ : For, (I. Cor.
ii. 14) the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of
God : for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know
them^ because they are spiritually discerned. He does not dis-
cern the ground and reason of the law of nature, being blind to
the infinite beauty of the divine perfections : and so is incapa-
citated to have a right view and sense of the nature of the first
covenant or the second.. And being a stranger and an enemy
to God, he also naturally doubts whether he has full power and
rightful authority to make such constitutions : he dislikes the
constitutions — ^he questions God's authority to make such :
their being so plainly held forth in the Bible, tempts many to
call even the truth of that into question ; and some are driven
quite to open infidelity.

There is a seciet infidelity in the hearts of unregenerate
men. They do not love that divine scheme of truths revealed

nSTINOUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 42J

in the Bible, nor cordially receive it for true. Men love to cut
out a scheme of religion in their heads, to suit the temper of
their hearts : And from this root do all the false and errone-
ous principles which fill the christian world originally take their
rise, (II. T/iess. ii. 10,11, 12) : But when he that command-
ed the light to shine out of darkness shines in the heart, aiid
gives spiritual light, then the reasonableness, beauty, and glory
of the whole scheme appear, and the very resemblance ot the
divine perfections is to be seen in every branch of it : and now
it is cordially believed, {yolin viii. 47) : And hereby a solid
foundation is laid for a real conformity to the law, and a genu-
ine compUance with the gospel ; in both which true rciigiou
does consist.

Thus we have gone through what was proposed : And we
see why God, the great Governor of the world, did consider
mankind as perishing, fallen, sinful, guilty, justly condemned,
helpless, and undone : and we see ihat his design of mercy
originally took its rise from the mere self-mo\ ing goodness of
his nature, and sovereign good pleasure : and we see the ne-
cessity there was of a Mediator, and how the way of life has
been opened by him whom God has provided : and we see
wherein a genuine compliance with the gospel does consist,
and the nature of a true faith in Christ : and we see what is im-
plied in the everlasting life that is promised to believers, and
how faith interests us in the promise, and how that the covenant
is, in all things, well ordered and sure. And now there is a wide
field opened for a large improvement, in many doctrinal and
practical inferences and remarks. For,

1. It is very natural to make the same observations here,
with regard to a genuine compliance with the gospel, as were
before made with respect to a real conformity to the hnv : for,
from what has been said, we may easily see wherein consists

that life of faith in Christ, which true believers live that ail

unregenerate men are entirely destitute of this true faith in
Christ ; yea, diametrically opposite thereunto in the temper of
their minds, and therefore cannot be brought to it but by tlie

425 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND

almighty power and all-conquering grace of God — that there is
nothing in them to move God to do this for them, but every
thing to the contrar}- — that God is at perfect liberty to have
mercy on whom he will, according to his sovereign pleasure — »
that it is reasonable to think that the same sovereign good pleas-
ure, which moves him to be the author, will move him to be
the finisher of our faith — that true faith, being thus specifical*
ly different from every counterfeit, may therefore be discerned
and known, &c. But because I have already been larger than
at first I designed, therefore I will omit these, and all other re-
marks which might be made ; and will conclude,

2. With only this one observation, viz. That if these things
be true, which have been said concerning the nature of faith
and the way of salvation by free grace through Christ, and con-
cerning that view of things which the true belie ver has, then no*i
thing is more plain and evident than that the true believer must
needs feel himselfto be under the strongest obligations possible
to an entire devotedness to God, and a life of umversai holiness.
Every thing meets, in that view of things which.he has, to bind
his soul Ibrever to the Lord. One main design of the gospel
v/as to make men holy ; and it is, in its nature, perfectly well
adapted to answer the end : For now all the natural obligations
we are under to love God and live to him, are seen in a divine
light ; such as arise from the infinite excellence of the divine
nature. ...God's entire right to us and authority over us : and
their binding nature is exhibited in a more sti'iking and affect-
ing manner in the gospel than in the law j — the cross of Christ
gives a more lively representation of the infinite evil of sin than
all the thunders of Mount Sinai : and a sight of our natural
obligations are aitended with a sense of all the additional sa*
cred ties, arising from the infinite goodness of God to a guilty,
rained world, in providing a Savior.. ..from the dying love of
Christ....from the free gift of converting grace.. ..from pardon-
ing mercy.. ..from God's covenant love and faithfulness, and
from the raised expectations of eternal glory ;— all which must
join to beget a right sense of sin, as being a thing, in itself, the

DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERIEITS. 427

mo»t unlit, unreasonable and wicked, as well as infinitely disin-
genuous and ungrateful to God, and concur to make it appear
9s the w^orst of evils.. ..the most to be hated, dreaded, watched,
and prayed against : And a humble heart, full of sclf-diifidcnce,
and under a sense of the divine all-sufficiency, and in a firm
belief of the truth of the gospel, will most naturally, and, as it
ivere, continually apply itself, by faith and prayer, to God
through Christ, to be kept from all sin, and to be preserved to
the heavenly kingdom : so that those views which the true be-
liever has, have the strongest tendency to universal holiness,
and do naturally lay a solid foundation for it. And those viev/s
ure not only maintained in a gi-eater or less degree, from day
to day, by the gracious influence of the holy spirit, which dwells
in them ; but are increasing and brightening through the course
of their lives : so that as the grand design of the gospel is to
make men holy, so it is pefectly well adapted, in its nature,
to answer the end : And therefore he that is bom of' God si n-
neth not ; and how shall xve^ that are dead to sin^ live any lon-
ger therein ? And such like scriptures must, in the nature of
things, be found to be true,inthe experience of every real believer.
Nor can any but graceless hypocrites be emboldened, by the
doctrines of free grace, to sin, as it were, upon free cost ; and
A double vengeance will they pull down upon their guilty heads.
Particularly, the whole frame and tenor of the gospel natu-
rally tends to excite us to an universal benevolence to mankind,
in imitation of the infijjite goodness of the divine nature — and
even to be benevolent and kind to the evil and unthankful, and
to those in whom there is no motive to excite our good will,
but much to the contrary — and to love our enemies, and bless
them that curse us, and do good to them that hate us, and pray
for them that despitefuUy use us and persecute vis. It is im-
possible, when we see the infinite beauty of the self-moving
<^oodness of the divine nature, as exercised in the whole, affair
of our redemption and salvation, towards creatures so infinite-
ly vile, unworthy and ill-deserving, but that we should love that
glorious goodness, and be changed into the same image, and

4>2S TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, &C.

have it become natural to us to love enemies, and forgive
injuries, and be like God. A malicious christian, a spiteful be*
liever, is the greatest contradiction and the most unnatural thing*

That which has had no small hand in bringing the doctrines
of grace into contempt in the world, as tending to licentiousness,
is partly because they have not been rightly understood, and
partly through the wicked liv^es of graceless hypocrites, who
have made a high profession. What remains now, therefore,
but that the people of God, by holy and exemplary lives, should
convince the world that these are doctrines according to godli-
ness ?

I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present
yourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service : for you are not your own, but bought
tvith a price — and that not of silver and gold, but of the precious
blood of the Son of God; and therefore live no more to yourselves^
but to him that died for you : And be ye folloxvers of God as dear
children^ Blessed be God for the unspeakable gift of his Son.
Amen.

THE END.

contents of t^e JFi'rst Oi5course»

TRUE religion consists in a confor-
mity to the lav}, and compliance
will the gospel. . -^<'^e 1

The /rtw requires us to love God luitb
all our hearts, and our ndghbor as
ourselves. ... 2

Love to God implies right apprehen-
sions of him, and a sense of his
amiai>lencss. ... 3

That we esteem him, so a,s to exult in
his supremacy, . . . T

So value his honor and interest, as to
be devoted to him — . ?-

So delight in him, as to live upon him
as .the portion of our souls. . 13
Love to God takes its rise, originally,
from a seivse of his infinite glory
and amiableness. . . 15

His infinite glory results from all bis
perfections. ... 17

All his perfections are manifested in
his ixoris — . . . IB

And in his word. ... 41
A sense of his glory is imparted to
the soul by the immediate intiuence
of the holy spirit. . . 44

The inlinite glor\ and amiableness of
God lays us imder such an obliga-
tion to love God, as is binding,
antecedently to any selfish con-
sideration. ... 46
Lifinitely, .... 48
Kternally, . . . . 57
And unchangeably. ■ . 58
And from hence all ouro^^'cr obliga-
lions to love and worship him as
God, originally derive their bind-
ing nature. . . . 77

• A short view of our additional

obligations to love God. . 81
How they influence a. true Saint. 85
True love distinguished from all
counterfeits. . . . I'O

The law requires us tolovc God iy/f/{'
all our hearts. . ■ 93

Making no allowances because of
our disinclination. . . 95

But since it requires no more than all
the heart, it is just and equal. 97
It being upon a level with our natu-
ral capacities. 98

And our inability to perfect holiness

arises only from our badness. 100

Which badness we are voluntary

in 104

There is no reason why the laiv
should be abated. . ■ 109

We are wholly to blame for not per-
fectly conforming to it. . 110
Even the heathen are without ex-
cuse. . . . . 114>
Much more inexcusable are those who
enjoy the benefit of divine reve-
lation. .... loL,
God is under no natural obligations
to grant supernatural advantages to
any of the children of men, 127"
And may therefore act sovereignly ia
doing so. . . . 123

Love to our neighbor imi)lies

esteem. . . . 131

Benevolence. . . . 133

And delight. . . . 134

And is in its own nature right and

ft 135

And enjoined by the authority of

God 13S

And recommended by the exam])le
of God, in the exercises of his in-
finite goodness towards the chil-
dren of men. . . 13/
And ought to be regulated agreeablvr
to a true self-love. . . 138
And is always attended with true
love to God. . . . 139
It is a thing different from natural
compassion. . . .140
Yron\ good bumor. . . ibid
From natural affection. . 1-11
From party-spirited love. . 142
Ir'rom any love whatsoever, that ari-
ses merely from self love. . ibid
And from the love which Enthusiasts
and Hereticks have to one ano-
ther 143

Love to God and our neighbor

is a radical conformity to the
iiholc law, . . . 144
And lays the foundation for all trua
obedience, . . . ibid

And is that whereby true religion is dis-
tinguished from all counterfeits. 146
Wljicl\ all arise frojii self-io^e. 147"

CONTENTS.

~-From the vhole, vre may learn,
what that image of God was, in
which Adam was created. . It9

That we are born destituie thereof, 152

And naturally have a temper contrary
thereto. . . . 154

Which temper has the entire govern-
ment of us. . . . 156

So that all we do, while unregenerate,
is sin. . . . .176

And therefore our best doings cannot
enti'.je us to any promise of special
grace. . . . 177

— Conversion consists in oiirrecovery
from this sinful temper, to the
moral image of God, by the infiu-
ences of the ho/y spirit. . 180

And because we are naturally in-
clined to resist his influences with
all our might. . . 184-

Therefore they must be such as we
cannot resist, or we shall never be
recovered. . . . 191

Which eft'ectual grace is dispensed-
according to God's sova'eign good
pleasure, and flows from his S'e'J^-
■nw^iing goodness. . . 192

And it is natural to suppose, that he
who in sucii wise begins this work,
will carry it on, and so all true
S?i\nts persevere to the end. 197

That they must expect spiritual con-

Jlicts from remaining corruption.

199

Yet assurance may be obtained. 202

These consequences are undeniable,
if the premises, touching the na-
ture of the /aw, are true. . 209

Bur if the law is abated and altered,
the whole scheme is undermined.
210

And so is the whc^e gospel-revelation
as much. . . . 214

Or, if the law means something else
than what is supposed. . 216

But if the idea, which the Pelagians
and Arminians have of God and
the law, is right, sin can deserve
no punishment, in this world, or
the next — . . . 217

Nor can the scriptures then be the
word of God. - . 221

Rules rf trial. . . 223

Tlie cause we have to be humble,
and thankful, and live entirely«de-
voted to God. . 232,240,241

The happiness of so douag. . 244

VARIOUS QUESTIONS OCCASIO-
NALLY CONSIDERED IN THE
FIRST DISCOURSE.

IS it any matter what men's ^r?«a-

p'es 3.re, if their li'oes are but good ?

page 4i

Will speculative ideas of God beget a.
sense of his amiableness, in a heart
that has no taste for moral beau-
ty ? 5

Does all our ennnity against God a-
rise merely from our conceiving
him to be our enemy ? . 6

Are all Aing.s right, or wrong, merely
because God wills them so to be !
29

Or merely because they do or do not
tend to inake us happy ? . 30

How was it consistent with God's
goodness to permit sin ? . 40

Does perfect obedience deserve any
thanks d.t the hands of God ? 48

In what sense are our good works
rewardable'? ... 50

Is sin an infinite evil ? and does it
deserve an infinite punishment ? 54

Can future obedience make the least
amends for past sins ? . 5S

Will the sinfulness and imisery of
the damned be forever increasing.
58

l^ the laiv abated? . 60,95,211

Or wholly repealed? . . 65

What influence hz\e fialse notions of
the law on men's religion ? . 66

What do Antinomians make their
rule of duty ? . ... 68

Are the threatenings of the law in
force .?.... 70

Can a man, merely from self-love ^o\t.
God w/ore than himself ? . 93

Is our impotency only ■moral ? . 94

Are we to blame for our spiritual
blindness .^ ... 99

Or for our corrupt nature ? . 104

What is it that brings awakened %m-
ners to take all the blame to them-
selves, and justify God ? . 110

Do true believers feel tltemselves
wholly to blaine for not beingper-
fectlyholy ? . . . Ill

Does God's withholding the sanctify-
ing influences of his holy spirit les-
sen our blame ? . . 114

Why does the scripture, in some
places, speak of the exttrnal ad-

conte:nts.

wantages oF God's risible people,
-Tis being; more than barely suiric.ent
' for their becominj^- good men, and
as though their power ^vas siiili-
cient, althou;;-h the sancvif\ ing in-
fluences of the holy spirit were
withheld from them ? . 121

Whsiii^ corrupt nature ':^ . 154

Is it natural, or contracted ? . 155

Are the wire^ene/ale entirely under
the government of it ! . 156

"Wherein does the sinjulntss of it
consist ? . . . 158

•Why do not mankind see the sinful-
ness of it ? . ..V'-V ^^^

Do all actufil sins proceed frdnti it ?

164

Why are sinners so averse to the true
jino'ivie({ge of God, and so blind to
his beauty ? . . . 167

■%Vhat is the nature of restraining
grace ? . . . . 169

Jfow came our nature to be corrupt-
.ed? . . .172

1 What good does it do for sinners t^
use the vi^ans of grace ?' 179, 387

What is the shurten and easiest meth-
od to bring the maincbntrcvcvsies
between Arrtiinians and Calvinists
to a final issue ? . 195, 209

How is tiie doctrine o( perseverance
consistent witli all the cautions
•given to believers, to tale bee J lest
they fail? . ■ 198

I Is it a sin for believers ever to dou/yt
of their good es'.iite ? . SUti

What is the most fundamental dif-
ference between the AnniniansAwd
Calvinists ? • ■ 215

In what sense are wicked men igno-
rant of their own hearts .' . 230

Wliy does a sight (if the strictness of
the luvi dlscouraj;e hypocrites, and
kill their religion ? . . 239

Are believers ever as blind and dead,
and as much without ail s[/iriiiial
strength, as uii/>eiic'VL)s :' . 2-14

. See aUo pages lS2,20U,228,405,4i3.

Contents of tlje gjeconli 23t£faur5e*

The Introduction. Pa^e 251

Of the Trinity, and of the Character
each person sustains in the aliair
of our salvation. . . 253

God does in the gospel consider us as
in a/imjA/;;^' condition. . 257

Because of our original apostacy in
Adam— . 2^9

Who was constituted our public
liead. . ibid

Which constitution was wc'l suited
to the ^eHe/-£f/^orx/ of mankind, 265

And God had puvscr or right to make
it. . . . 267

And because we are apostate crea-
tures, . . . 274

£nemies to God, . . 2/6

And averse to a reconciliation, ibid

jIs such the gospel considers us. 273

God was not moved to provide

a Savior for us, under any notion

that the constitution with Adam

v,-Tks unjust, . . . 279

Or the law of nature too severe, 281

Or that our ivipotency renders us the
Jess to blaniCt . 285

Or from any expectation that -we

should, of our own free accord, s»

nuich as heartily thank him for it.

' . 288

But entirely from his cnvn se/j-mcvirg

gotxlness, free and sovereign grace.

289

Tlie necessity of stitis/action for

sin argued from the pn/ectinns of
God. . . . . 299

From scripture, ^ . 312

And i\-on\ fact. . . 313

The necessit) of the /aw's being obev-
ed. . . . 319

The sufficifncy of CuRisi's .sat-

i: faction and merit. . 326

He \\\i.%Jit to be a Mc.'.iator between
God and man. . . 327

^Vas authorized. . . 330

And what lie has dune is perfii'ly
sui cd, in its own natine, to an-
swer all the ends ))roposed. 3.n

God may now, throng it Christ, '

consistently with his own honor,
save any that betien/e, . 342

GONTEKTSv

And use wTiat weans he pleases for
the recovery of obstinate sinners

A view of the mtthods of dfoinc grace
■with mankind, from the begin-
ning of the world. . 365

• A genuine compliance with the

grtspel. . . . 300

Saving /a?7i. . r 394

It results from divine light. . 395

Which lays a foundation for a super-
natural belief oi the gospel. 396

Regeneration, faith, repentance, and
conversion , connected together, ibid

Spiritual light and true faith always
in prnpoitiojT. . . ibid

Jlioii/lity and true faith always in
proportion. . . . 397

What encourages the sinner to believe
in Christ. . • 399

The act of faith defined. . 401

Faith in Christ emboldens the hum-
bled sinner to return to God, and
trust in him. . • 402

T]\e various actings of faith distin-
guished. . . ibid

Fcith and holiness always in propor-
tion. . . . 403

True fzith, habitual, grooving znd per-
severing. . . 405

The faith of the legal and of the evan-
gelical Inpocrile described. 407 — 9
The everlasting life promised to
believers, implies the everlasting
ioic and favor of God, and the
everlasting indwelling of the holy
*■/;/;•;? as a sanctifier. . 414 — 15

Oi x.\\c spirit of adoption. . 417

Of the seal and ii'itness of the spirit.
205,418

Of the onarvellous change made by
true conversion. . 418

How faith interests us in Christ,
and entitles us to life. . 419

The gospel-iaay of salvation perfectly
adapted to make men ijo/)'. 426 — 27

VARIOUS qUESTIOKS OCCA-
SIONALLY CONSIDERED IS
THE SECOND DISCOURSE.

What was implied in the deatb
threatened to Adam ? . 260

What is the difference between the

law of nature and the^;-*? covenant ?

263, 279, 419

Wha* is it thatdoesmost commonly
convince men of the doctrine of ori-
ginal sin ? . . 272

Why is original sin no oftener spo-
ken of in scripture ? . 174,. 273

Were we, by the fall, brought into a

state of Beingu-orietl^anMortobe ?

292

Ought we to be thanlful for our ie-
i):gs? . . . 293

Is it a blessing to have children ? 296

W"hat is the nature of satisfactwnfor
.tin ? . . . . 331

Does it render sin a less evil, or taka
away its natural f/Z-f/eser? .? ■ 339

Does it move the divine compassion ?

340

Are tht elect, before faith, as much
under the wrath of God as others,
notwithstanding the satisfaction
of Christ ? .. . 74, 341

Wherein con sists our weec/ of Christ,
and when is it seen ? . SI'S — 19

Why was Adam placed in a state of
probation ? . . 320

Is a state of /»roAa</o« consistent with
God's making his creatures' happi-
ness his last end ? . 323

Are all the cominon mercies, which
mankind enjoy, the effects of
Christ's merits P . 352

In what sense did Christ die for al^
the -xorld ? . . . ibid

And in what sense only for the elect ?

353

Is a coifrmed habit of grace before
t\\e first act of faith, or after ? 41.5

Hoes faith consist inj believing that
my sins are forgiven ? 76, 341, 44,0

[

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